This was a procedural vote on a resolution outlining the rules for floor debate on a bill that would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to extend the time limit in which workers can file employment discrimination lawsuits.

These types of resolutions, drafted by the House Rules Committee (and typically favorable to the majority party, in this case Democrats), set the rules for debate for bills on the House floor, including how long the bill will be debated and what, if any, amendments may be offered.

This particular vote was a procedural motion known as the “previous question,” which effectively ends debate and is often used by the minority party as a last gasp attempt to amend bills that otherwise might not be amendable in the way in which they want.  However, in this case, Republicans did not attempt to bring up any amendments and there was no debate on the procedural vote itself, though Republicans did complain about being shut out of the amendment process on the rule itself.

By a vote of 252-175, the motion was agreed to.  Every Republican present voted against the motion, while every Democrat voted for it.  The end result is that the motion carried, debate on the rule ended and the House proceeded to a vote on passing the rule itself.