Stacey Plaskett (D), a non-voting Delegate from the U.S. Virgin Islands to the House of Representatives, exploded on the House floor on Friday when she was informed that she could not vote for Speaker of the House because she represents a U.S. territory — not a U.S. state.
Plaskett disrupted the vote because she claimed to have a “parliamentary inquiry.”
“I note that the names of the representatives from the Americas, Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia, were not called, representing collectively 4 million Americans,” she said.
Other members interrupted her, leading her to seemingly acknowledging that her parliamentary inquiry was a stunt.
“Have some respect. It’s not going to take–” she responded to the other House members.
“I asked why they were not called from the parliamentarian, please,” she said.
The House official correctly noted that Delegates-elect and the Resident Commissioner-elect are not qualified to vote.
“Wrong!” a Democrat falsely shouted.
“Representatives-elect are the only individuals qualified to vote in the election of a speaker, as provided in Section 36 of the House rules and manual, the speaker is elected, is elected by a majority of the members elect, voting by surname,” the House official stated.
Plaskett erupted, “This body and this nation has a territories and a colonies problem. What was supposed to be temporary has now effectively become permanent. We must do something about this problem, so that these four mill–”
After her microphone was briefly cut, she shouted, “I have a voice!”
WATCH:
US Virgin Islands Delegate Stacey Plaskett (D) causes a scene on the House floor after she is told delegates can’t vote for Speaker: “This body and this nation has a territories and a colonies problem. What was supposed to be temporary has now effectively become permanent.” pic.twitter.com/1aRU1xPGcq
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) January 3, 2025
