A majority of the House Democratic Caucus voted against a resolution denouncing socialism on Friday, a symbolic measure passed just hours before New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is set to meet with President Donald Trump.
The House overwhelmingly passed a resolution from Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL) to denounce “the horrors of socialism” 285-98-2. Two Democrats, Reps. Janelle Bynum (D-OR) and Deborah Ross (D-NC) voted present, and 86 Democrats joined all Republicans in voting for the measure.
Twenty-seven Democrats and 20 Republicans did not vote. Holding votes on a Friday typically dwindles the number of members present. However, after the 54-day House recess during the government shutdown, leadership added votes on Friday to help the chamber work through its backlog of legislative items.
A similar vote on socialism was taken in February 2023, and 19 Democrats who had either voted for the resolution or “present” back then switched their votes to no on Friday.
Democrats who switched from yes to no included Reps. Troy Carter (LA), Madeline Dean (PA), Glenn Ivey (MD), Jonathan Jackson (IL), Rob Menendez (NJ), Joe Neguse (CO), Terri Sewell (AL), Mike Thompson (CA), Bennie Thompson (MS), and Lauren Underwood (IL), as well as Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
Those who switched from present to no among Democrats were Reps. Shontel Brown (OH), Jasmine Crockett (TX), Veronica Escobar (TX), Val Hoyle (OR), Sara Jacobs (CA), Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM), Doris Matsui (CA), and Mary Gay Scanlon (PA).
Democratic leadership, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), voted to denounce socialism, whereas high profile figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) joined her progressive colleagues in voting against the resolution.
Jeffries’s “yea” vote comes after his lukewarm endorsement of Mamdani right before the election took place at the beginning of the month. Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez has been a staunch ally of the new mayor. Pelosi’s vote comes as she prepares to retire from Congress.
Salazar’s resolution lists statistics of death under socialist regimes and says the United States “denounces socialism in all forms and opposes the implementation of socialist policies in the United States.”
The vote comes on the same day that Mamdani is set to meet with Trump at the White House at 3 p.m. It will be the first-ever meeting between the political figures and comes as a crucial point after Mamdani, a self-proclaimed socialist, overwhelmingly beat his independent and Republican competitors.
The president endorsed former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, just one day before election night. Trump also threatened to withhold federal funding from New York City if Mamdani won.
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On the other hand, Mamdani has slammed Trump for his immigration policies and deportation of undocumented citizens, while also critiquing the president’s economic agenda. Affordability was the main focus of Mamdani’s campaign and of the larger 2025 election cycle, securing victories for both centrist gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia, as well as a win for Mamdani, who sits much further to the left.
National Republicans are determined to link Mamdani to every congressional Democratic incumbent or candidate. It is rare to see a national party focus so much on a mayor, but the GOP is working diligently to make Mamdani their new boogeyman heading into the 2026 midterm elections, in which they will be on defense.
