It remains a symbolic show of defiance cut short. The narrow Republican majority was not put to the test, even though Democratic control of Congress in January was the horizon against which the procedure stood a chance of carrying weight.
Thomas Massie, a fiercely libertarian Republican representative, was defeated at the ballot box in the spring primaries. Trump had managed to bring him down. The lawmaker had not said his last word.
One procedure was nevertheless nipped in the bud. Republican representatives all voted against it, giving the effort no time to gain traction in the House.
The stakes went beyond a mere signal. The procedure had a chance of forcing the narrow Republican majority in the House to yield, a majority whose solidity could thus have been put to the test.
This scenario targeted the period preceding the transfer of legislative power. The effect could have occurred even before the Democrats take control of Congress in January.
The hostile vote of the entire Republican caucus ruled out that prospect. Stifled from the outset, the procedure was unable to test the narrow majority or hasten its erosion.
Thomas Massie is accustomed to this kind of bravado, gestures that are above all symbolic. The outcome imposed by his colleagues falls into that category, more than into a legislative victory.
Fiercely libertarian, he has made a name for himself over fourteen years in Congress for his solitary rides. His critics sometimes describe this stance as a spirit of contradiction or sterile opposition.
He belongs to no caucus in the House. That position on the sidelines does not prevent him from voting overwhelmingly with the Republicans, the camp that has just rejected the procedure unanimously.
The contrast is stark: a lawmaker who most often follows the Republicans on the floor saw those same representatives close ranks against him. The rejection was collective, with no apparent crack in the vote.