Democrats end 25-hour plus protest to demand House gun votes

House Republicans avoided removing Democrats at the height of the sit-in – a move that would have been a political disaster as the protest was streamed live via social media on national television – with their cool and swift parliamentary maneuvering.

The sit-in ended Thursday, about 25 hours after it began.

Though there are some legitimate criticisms of the bill House Democrats are proposing, it is so heartening to see our lawmakers standing up (or rather sitting in) to do something, anything, to try to prevent another Orlando.

House Democrats are demanding votes on legislation establishing background checks on gun sales, and a ban on firearms sales to those on the government’s “no-fly” list of suspected terrorists.

Branding the move “a publicity stunt”, Republicans who control the chamber summarily adjourned the chamber until July 4. “We’re not going to take away a citizen’s constitutional rights without due process. And no stunts on the floor will change that”. Democrats denounced the GOP plan as “cowardly”. “The Republicans have left in the dead of night with business unfinished”.

House Democrats staged a sit-down protest Wednesday, seeking a vote on gun control measures following the Orlando nightclub shooting.

Georgia Rep. John Lewis, the leader of this sit-in, knows this well.

The Connecticut Democrat also said there was a lot of interest from members in holding events in their home districts between now and July 5.

As the crowd grew, they shouted “hold the floor” and “do your job” to lawmakers. “Our goal is that when the House is in session and we have the possibility of bringing up [a gun control] vote, that we are there being vocal about this issue, and that we keep this momentum going”, Katherine Clark, D-Massachusetts, told TIME.

Over at the White House on Wednesday, press secretary Josh Earnest said House Democrats are “are showing the kind of frustration and even anger that people around the country have”. Elizabeth Warren of MA brought Dunkin’ Donuts for her House colleagues who were staying awake. But the sit-in was still on, with lawmakers refusing to leave the floor even for the routine security sweep.

Manu Raju told Ashleigh Banfield that the House Democrats believed that they made their point clear and will conclude their demonstration shortly. The two came within inches of each other, both shouting, and were separated by colleagues. Republicans have struggled to force the House back into session. We can’t let another day go by w/out action #NoBillNoBreakpic.twitter.com/PmajfCGXwe@SenWarren joins the sit-in…literally. Republicans, by contrast, don’t care one whit about civil liberties unless they somehow implicate gun ownership, as they’ve demonstrated by their failure to actually pass any legislation that would improve the watch list in all the years they’ve been in power. It was unclear what would happen next in the House.

In a statement early Thursday morning, Larson said he was deeply disappointed Ryan chose to adjourn the House, arguing the Speaker chose to do nothing rather than debate an issue that is killing thousands of Americans. Ryan called a vote. Ryan forced several quick votes in the pre-dawn hours Thursday over loud Democratic objections.

The extraordinary unrest continued throughout the vote on labor legislation.

Republicans didn’t try to interrupt Democrats’ sit-in until a vote at 10 p.m. on an unrelated measure to overturn the Obama administration’s fiduciary rule.