Posted on 03/27/2020 8:54:40 AM PDT by yardboyd
House members will pass the coronavirus relief bill at some point today. The big question is what else they may pass around on the way back to hold a voice vote. Representatives are traveling quickly back to the capitol after Rep. Thomas Massie made it clear that he would force a voice vote on the CARES Act, and his colleagues are less than pleased to take a break from their social distancing:
Massie’s unpopularity stretches to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, too. Trump urged House Republicans to expel Massie from their caucus this morning on Twitter:
Thanks to Massie, Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer had to call the House back into session. It takes at least 216 members to establish a quorum (down from 218 thanks to vacancies at the moment), which means hundreds of politicians had to travel through airports and on airplanes to get back to Washington DC. That’s not only risky in terms of spreading the coronavirus even further, it’s also expensive as hell, Massie’s colleagues reminded him:
Leaders in both parties encouraged members to return to D.C. for the vote if they are willing and able, while the majority whip asked offices to let them know ASAP if their bosses were planning on making the trip. But many lawmakers are furious: they don’t want to be recorded as absent on what is likely to be the biggest and most historic piece of legislation that they will ever vote on. Yet the short notice, canceled or limited flights and states with different safety guidelines have created a whole lot of headaches — and anger — among members.
Take this tweet from freshman Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.): “Dear @RepThomasMassie: If you intend to delay passage of the #coronavirus relief bill tomorrow morning, please advise your 428 colleagues RIGHT NOW so we can book flights and expend ~$200,000 in taxpayer money to counter your principled but terribly misguided stunt. #thankyou.” Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), meanwhile, called it “disgraceful” and “irresponsible” of Massie to force members to come back. And one senior GOP aide put it this way to your Huddle host: “This is the single biggest shit show I have seen here. Pure fucking chaos.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) had been making the pitch to his members — in pressers, conference calls and individual conversations — to not object to the voice vote. But Massie remains a wild card: he thinks holding a vote without a quorum is unconstitutional and is wary of big government spending. Remember, this is the lawmaker who once forced his colleagues to take 35 roll call votes on non-controversial bills, leading to a marathon, late-night voting session just as the government was on the brink of a partial shutdown.
GOP leadership has been in contact with Massie about his concerns, according to a Republican leadership aide. Yet no one is quite sure where he will land and Massie hasn’t ruled out forcing a recorded vote. “They’re trying to convince us it should be a voice vote, it shouldn’t be recorded. And I’m struggling with this,” he told a radio station Thursday. Trump, meanwhile, had this to say: “Let’s see whether or not we have a grandstander.” All the latest on the last-minute drama, from Heather, Sarah and yours truly: https://politi.co/2JjA4fP.
Pelosi insists on holding the vote today to get the bill implemented ASAP, perhaps embarrassed now that she didn’t call members back sooner. When will the vote be taken? They can’t do any voting until they get to a quorum, and it’s anyone’s guess when enough members will have checked in to reach that time. Thanks to declarations from Massie and Justin Amash, Pelosi may need to wait until she’s sure she has 216 votes for passage, too.
One thing’s for sure — Hoyer doesn’t want Massie or anyone else to use this brief session as a soapbox. He has specifically excluded the traditional access to the floor for one-minute speeches today:
How will they conduct the vote while maintaining social distancing standards? The House chamber is precisely the kind of mass gathering that lawmakers and governors have exhorted Americans not to hold. It’s a crowded place in normal circumstances, especially during a roll-call vote. Massie might force more than one of those today, too, using procedural roadblocks to slow down progress just as he did before the shutdown. Even if they shuttle in and out of the room, they will have to come in close proximity to each other repeatedly all day long. By the end of the day, the entire House will have to self-quarantine for the next two weeks.
That, of course, is on Massie — but it’s also on Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell. At the very beginning of the outbreak in the US, they both had opportunities to set up a protocol for remote voting to avoid this very scenario. In a pandemic, Congress has to be able to function, especially to oversee the operation of an executive branch operating under emergency powers. Massie is at least correct in one sense that the House Speaker cannot just assume a without-objection status on massive spending outlays. Put that together with the average age of representatives and senators and their vulnerability to pandemic-type infections and you have a recipe for disaster.
It’s almost too late for this crisis, but whatever remains of Congress after the COVID-19 pandemic abates should take up remote voting as one of its first orders of business.
[[The big question is what else they may pass around on the way back to hold a voice vote.]]
For crying out loud- they don’t have protective coveralls, or hazmat suits with personal air packs etc they can use for important votes? There are ways to do this and keep everyone safe if they are so worried about it—
Maybe the problem isn't entirely on Massie or a failure to approve remote voting.
Maybe the core problem is that Congress takes too many recesses/adjournments, and that's the root cause for all of these other so-called fixes?
-PJ
For Congress to be prepared for this implies that they are a proactive organization. They are not. They are reactive.
Would you consider it passed if a quorum was not present?
House rules have provisions for catastrophic quorum failure. Those provisions attach in times of catastrophe, like when members can't get to the House. It is too much to ask that they follow the rules respecting establishing a quorum? Or is quorum an antiquated requirement?
Since the two items and circumstances are in no way comparable, I see no point in coming to the conclusion you’ve posted.
RULE XX
VOTING AND QUORUM CALLS5.(c)(1) If the House should be without a quorum due to catastrophic circumstances, then--
The House just deemed a quorum present. Who knows how many were there. I doubt it was half the members.
Boy he is STEAMED at Massie I am more Steamed at Mittens WHY is Massie doing this anyone know???
uh. are we in the 21st Century or not?
this could easily be done remote.
but poor Rep. Massie, you better watch your back from now on. DC hates a doctrinare conservative with the courage of his/her constitutional convictions (if that’s what you are) getting in the way when they’re at the hog trough.
Massie thinks a quorum is required to do business. He is mistaken. The quorum requirement in the constitution is not binding. Once the chair in the House deems a quorum present, the members present, no matter if it a quarter of the members, can conduct business.
It is not serious legislation if it includes $25 million for Kennedy Center.
God bless Massie. This bill is a crap sandwich.
Shame on Trump for defending the millions of our dollars to the Kennedy Center.
KILL THIS BILL.
This whole mess is starting to smell like a massive demonrat plot to take down Trump. Remember back in 2008 when little Johnnie McCain had to leave his campaign and run back to DC to solve the urgent finance crisis and how smooth Obama was continuing his campaign? This current crisis is just too convenient for the demonrats to happen during an election year.
Where was all this urgent hand wringing and crying last winter when, according to the CDC, over 80,000 Americans died from the flu. Did we panic then? I’ll bet most don’t remember it.
Since most of the CDC and the NIH are made up of liberals it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to find that they are blowing this way out of proportion to hurt President Trump.
Finally, it was reported this morning that every day in this country over 3,000 people are killed in vehicle accidents. OMG, we better close the Interstate highways and outlaw cars.
Massie did not need to make a big stink over this. What purpose does it serve? If you have an answer to that which satisfies the millions who are waiting on a relief check, consider what their “I give a shit” level is concerning congressional decorum.
As I stated previously, there is a place and time for being stubborn in this fashion. This just isn't the time.
Exactly like this is not the place and time for Pelosi to attempt to put her bullshit agenda front and center over this “crisis”.
Do you find that making a decision without a quorum prsent is okay? I think your answer is yes.
Which, to me, puts you in the situational rules camp. Don't express an opinion based on "rule of law" and expect me to think that you mean it.
Which, by the way, I think "rule of law" is a joke too, so I never use that. There is no such thing as rule of law. It's all about who has the power.
You can answer for me all day long, but the ultimate answer in between my ears is “ I Don't Give A Shit One Way Or The Other “ is it concerns Massie's pointless action. I suppose my largest concern is over the fact that it makes the anti-dems "look bad" when it isn't necessary and is in fact counterproductive.
So, the above remains the same for the “rule of law”, which circles back to my point about legalese and my disdain for such, regardless of how you want to characterize it.
Many times I do care and will follow along with what is transpiring and attempt to get to the bottom of the legalities and technicalities of whatever the issue is at hand, but that is if I have plenty of available leisure time and nothing better at the moment to engage my curiosity.
I concur, vote and be counted. The rep from Kentucky is standing on firm constitutional rock. The constitution should not be voided or ignored for expediency. Congress critters should be in DC, “doing the work of the people.”
Good one, Mr. Foster!!!
For the record, I am proud of Rep. Massie.
I’m not upset with Massie. And Trump’s comments are a cya when the media comes after him because Massie is a GOP.
All good.
Amazing how few really believe in the Constitution.
Lincoln didn’t and neither did 0bama.
I'm not overriding it. I'm calling out as not believeable, your claim that you don't know what quorum is. Maybe you don't.
And whether it's accurate or not, I find you to be unprincipled. You don't get to override what's between my ears.
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