‘Oh No!’ House Committee Reacts to Death of Rep. Gerry Connolly

The House Rules Committee was in the middle of a session on Wednesday when members reacted to the news of Rep. Gerry Connolly’s (D-VA) passing.

The committee gathered Wednesday morning for a meeting on the GOP’s tax and spending cuts proposal. As the meeting was going on, a statement was posted to Connolly’s X/Twitter account announcing the his passing. Connolly, 75, had been battling esophageal cancer.

Just minutes after Connolly’s family published that statement, House Rules Committee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC) took a moment to acknowledge the death of their colleague.

“I think many people need to hear,” Foxx began. “I just heard that our colleague Gerry Connolly has just passed.”

That announcement was met with an emotional, “Oh no,” from one representative off-screen.

“So, I want to ask us all to stop and say a prayer for his family,” Foxx continued. “Please take some time.”

Everyone then bowed their heads for a moment of silence. When Foxx was thanked for allowing them to have that moment, she said it was “absolutely the right thing to do.” Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) was then given the floor, adding that Connolly was “certainly a valued colleague” and that his death was “quite a loss.”

Watch above via C-SPAN