Republicans block House vote slamming White House Holocaust statement

House Republicans block a Democratic effort to vote on a resolution slamming the White House for its International Holocaust Remembrance Day statement that did not specifically mention Jews.

Rep. Joe Crowley, D-New York, seeks to force a vote Tuesday on a resolution he introduced last week emphasizing that the Nazis targeted Jews during the Holocaust and calling on the White House to affirm that fact, the Washington Examiner reports. Republicans block the effort in a party-line vote.

The resolution, sponsored by more than 100 Democrats, refers to the White House statement last month, which was widely condemned by Jewish organizations for not mentioning the Jewish people specifically. Trump administration officials defended the omission, saying it was seeking to be “inclusive.” On Monday, an aide to President Donald Trump called criticism of the statement “asinine.”

“It is beyond belief that President Trump would allow a Holocaust remembrance statement to go out under the banner of his White House that did not discuss the genocide perpetrated against the Jewish people,” Crowley says. “The Trump administration doubled down and defended its statement, despite many pointing out the consequences of such inaccuracies.”

— JTA