Why one Tenn. Republican voted against all three expulsions of Dem lawmakers

Republican Charlie Blaum explains why he voted not to expel Tennessee Three - The Washington Post

The lone Republican to vote against the expulsion of three Tennessee Democratic lawmakers said in an interview on Friday that he voted nay because he wanted to give the now ousted members another opportunity to talk through the House rules.

“I guess that that necessarily means not expulsion,” Baum said in an interview with The Washington Post on Friday.

His fellow Republicans disagreed.

Just hours after Baum learned Monday of the Republican expulsion resolutions, he decided he would vote against expelling Jones, Johnson and Pearson for leading a gun-control protest from the Tennessee House floor after a mass killing.

He quickly began hearing from as many as 100 constituents in Murfreesboro, a Nashville suburb district, who told him they felt expulsion wasn’t necessary. That night, he spoke to his wife, Kelly, who agreed. On Tuesday, he told Republican leadership he would break with the party.

By Thursday, Jones and Pearson had been ousted, and Baum was the lone Republican of the 75-seat majority that voted against all three resolutions. He said Republican leadership did not try to persuade him to change his decision and supported his “vote of conscience.”

In conversations before the expulsion vote with 8-10 GOP colleagues, the lawmaker said he explained his reservations and heard why many felt the extraordinary step of expulsion was necessary. He said some told him they were pessimistic additional attempts at working with Jones, Pearson and Johnson would be fruitful.

“I think they had in mind the same objective,” said Baum, who added his desire was to protect the legislative process and was not angry at his fellow Republicans for their votes. “It wasn’t the outcome that I was for, but I believe that it was an attempt to ensure that the deliberative legislative process and its structure were honored.”

During the Thursday debate, Democrats argued that the Tennessee Three’s actions were a mistake but that expulsion would set a dangerous precedent for democracy. Republicans said expulsion was necessary to prevent further potential attempts to disobey the chamber’s rules.

The GOP representatives used a more aggressive line of questioning during cross examination of Jones and Pearson, calling the two lawmakers disruption-makers and attention-seekers.

When asked why he thought Jones and Pearson were expelled while Johnson wasn’t, the third-term lawmaker and economics professor pointed to Johnson’s history of following rules in committee. He thought that past might have benefited Johnson and hurt Pearson and Jones, who were both in their first term. He did not answer whether the race of Jones and Pearson, who are Black, played a role.

Baum did not answer questions about Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton (R) referring to the Democrats’ actions as an “ insurrection.”

“I hope that democracy is not affected,” Baum said. “I am anxious for the constituents in these districts to very, very quickly be represented again with legislators. The legislators they select may very well be the ones that were expelled.”