‘Colonies problem’: Delegate’s mic cut after outcry during House speaker vote

U.S. Virgin Islands Delegate Stacey Plaskett protested the nonvoting status of the Virgin Islands and other U.S. territories Friday— sparking mixed reactions after she accused the U.S. in House floor remarks of having a ‘colonies problem.’

The exchange occurred after Plaskett, a Democrat, stood after the first roll call vote to note what she said was a parliamentary inquiry.

Plaskett then asked the House clerk why she and other delegates from the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia were not asked to participate in the House speaker vote.

Combined, she noted that the delegates excluded represent some four million Americans and what she said was ‘the largest per capita of veterans in this country.’

Speaking over Republican cries of ‘order!’ that could be heard in the background, the House clerk then explained to Plaskett that delegates-elect and the resident commissioner-elect are not qualified to vote in the House speaker election.

‘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 clerk said.

That response prompted an impassioned response from Plaskett. ‘This body, and this nation, has a territories and a colonies problem,’ she said, prompting some Democrats to give a standing ovation.

Republicans, for their part, began booing.

‘What was supposed to be temporary has now effectively become permanent,’ she said. ‘We must do something about this problem.’

Her mic appeared to have been cut off shortly thereafter.

Plaskett has served as a non-voting delegate to the U.S. Virgin Islands since 2015, during which time the chamber has voted to elect seven separate House speakers.