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There is an old saying in Washington that nothing is decided until everything is decided.
Well, let's consider the state of the $ 19.1 billion bill in the event of a disaster.
It took a herculean effort to extract this set Thursday in the Senate, triggering an overwhelming vote by 85 votes to 8. President Trump reported to the Senate Committee on Credits Committee, Richard Shelby, of Alberta and Senator David Lost, that he would sign the package, even without provisions for the border. Senators said the president said the disaster funds were too large and blocked for too long. The southern and midwestern states, hit by hurricanes and floods, could no longer wait.
Until the representative Chip Roy, R-Texas, all torpedo Friday morning.
The House and Senate can approve bills in three ways. They may proceed to a standard roll-call vote, in which each votes either in favor or in a vote. The House and Senate can hold a "vote by vote". This is where everyone will shout yes or no. The loudest side is supposed to win.
However, the presiding legislator always declares "in the opinion of the president, yes or no" or "no". But if the losers do not like the result, they can still demand a recorded vote. . Finally, there is "unanimous consent". That's where all 435 or 100 people have to agree. It only takes one solitary objection, even if everyone wants to do something else. Filing an objection stops everything.
The LONE GOP REP BLOCKS Bill on Disaster Assistance
It is said that you can make the sun rise to the west if you get unanimous consent.
It's there that Roy enters the scene.
On Friday, there were only three members of the House present when the House tried to advance the measure of disaster assistance with unanimous consent and in synchronization with the Senate. Representative Jim McGovern, D-Mass., Chaired the session. Representative Donna Shalala, D-Fla. Was present to request unanimous consent. And then there was Roy.
Proponents of the measure were twice as numerous as Roy.
Unanimous consent is powerful – but difficult to obtain. The only reason Roy came Friday morning when the House was trying to approve the measure with a skeleton staff at hand. To adopt the package by unanimous consent would mean that the House and the Senate were aligned after accepting the same package. The measure would then be ready for President Trump's signature.
The House Minority Leader, Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Implored Democratic leaders to hold the plenary session in the House on Thursday to endorse the disaster relief measure. But the House was not going to move until the Senate acted. Most members of the House left Washington Thursday at noon for a week and a half, starting Memorial Day holidays.
Until Thursday afternoon, the fate of the disaster package was not clear. The Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Warned his colleagues that the Senate would vote "on something" regarding disaster assistance and "not suspend the meeting". But the Senate was ready to vote on a revised plan once President Trump had announced that he would sign the measure, even without the provisions relating to the border. Things went very well in the Senate. But the house had been gone for a long time.
One wonders if it would have been worth keeping the House in session just to see if the Senate would act. Of course, lawmakers still hold out for such efforts. Lawmakers regularly explain why Congress should stay in session during a break or a weekend to try to solve one problem or another. It is often the same legislators who have a taxi idling just outside the Capitol, ready to get them across the river to make a flight to Reagan National Airport.
The suspension of Memorial Day is particularly problematic for planning. Many members have planned major work trips abroad. A number of lawmakers are expected to travel to Normandy, France, in a few days for the 75th anniversary of D-Day. This is saying nothing of lawmakers returning to their states and districts to participate in Memorial Day parades. and visit cemeteries.
Tying legislators to Washington for a day or two, without having the clear idea that a consecutive vote is imminent is a problem. Yes, the Senate approved the disaster bill just after the House abandoned Washington. But it was far from clear that senators would do it Thursday.
The measure in case of disaster is thus blocked. Again.
Roy briefly spoke with Shalala in the House just before the start of the session on Friday morning.
"He came to inform me graciously that he was going to object because he wanted the president's request at the border to be included," Shalala said. "This is not the way our government should work. We are ready to work in the House in a bipartisan way. The same as the Senate was ready to leave. An individual. His position is irresponsible. "
Shalala described the turn of events as "tragic". She worried about the extra time for families trying to recover.
"Why should they wait a week longer because of objections from some members of Congress?" Asked the Florida Democrat.
Of course, the question is whether Roy simply delayed the inevitable. But the House will not resume until June 4. The House seems to have the votes to adopt the plan in a bipartisan way.
"This, respectfully, speaks of swamps. Delay the inevitable. This is the inevitability of DC. The inevitability of spending without speaking and voicing the concerns I heard when I returned to all Texas cities, "21 said Roy. "Why do not we treat disaster expenses in a fiscally responsible way? We just keep writing checks.
Roy has received a close hearing from Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried.
"This is the worst shameful policy that only one member of the House would choose to further delay disaster relief," Fried said. "Congressman Roy must have forgotten the help that Texans received after Hurricane Harvey."
But is the passage of the bill inevitable? Simply delayed?
SENATE ADOPTS DISASTER AID PROJECT
It is said that the guests and the fish begin to smell after three days. Consider the controversy that prevented this disaster package. Republicans have tried to introduce the bill into presidential politics. They argued that Democratic senators who ran for president should vote yes – or risk trouble in Iowa soggy before caucuses. Republicans claimed that Democrats were playing politics with Puerto Rican money. Questions arose as to the significance of a stunted disaster bill for Senators Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Ben Sasse, R-Neb., John Cornyn, R-Texas and Perdue. All face applications for reelection in desperate states for disaster assistance. All could face competitive races. Ernst is in a battlefield state. Texas and Georgia tend slightly towards Democrats. Then there were problems regarding the addition of humanitarian provisions for the border. Are things settled with this legislation? Or could another hurdle expose the bill to political enzymes, ready to foul up the bill?
"I am not looking for a way to undermine the support of something," Roy said when asked to let the law enter parliamentary elements for more than a week. "This legislation should be compensated. This legislation should include border funding so that we can deal with this crisis. "
But the bill may not wait a week.
Only a few members of the House will linger in the next 11 days in Washington. The House is scheduled to meet briefly at 2 pm on Tuesday, May 28 and at 4:30 pm on Thursday, May 30. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Suggested that "we will act as early as next week when the House reconvenes during the pro forma meetings. "
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This is a reference to these short sessions. The House could again seek unanimous consent to adopt the Disaster Relief Bill without a recorded vote. It's a ploy of Democrats to dare Roy or other Republicans to oppose it again. Then Democrats can portray them as obstructionists who try to delay aid in the event of a disaster.
This could all turn against Roy and other GOPers. If they do not object, the bill is passed and the protest falls on the water. If they block the bill a second or third time, Democrats can easily argue their point of view on Republican obstructionism.
Few people knew who Chip Roy was before today. But now they do it. Democrats will put a name and a face on the obstruction.
However, a prominent Republican source told Fox "Maybe Roy wants it that way."
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