By the end of 1868, Republicans who had been displeased with the final constitution approved by the convention joined forces with what formally became the Committee of Nine. These Republicans, such as Edgar Allan and Franklin Stearns, worked with the committee in Washington in the fight for a separate vote on the anti-Confederate provisions. They joined in meeting important Congressmen since the Republicans dominated the Congress at the time, and their work proved influential. Nonetheless, when the Congress reassembled in December 1868, the Virginia Republican executive committee requested a vote on the Underwood constitution. On December 9, the House Committee of Reconstruction passed a bill to provide money for the referendum, however, the Christmas holiday recess arrived before the Senate received the bill.