Despite Marathon Session, Amendment Votes on 'Minibus' Spending Bill to Continue Next Week
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The House of Representatives began considering amendments to a $982 billion “minibus” spending package at 3:40pm EDT on Wednesday, but despite pressing on with debate and votes until 4:00am and reconvening at 9:00am Thursday morning for four more hours of work the final votes on the funding package will have to wait until next week.
That’s thanks in part to Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) ― and eventually other Republicans ― requesting recorded votes on each of the 221 amendments made in order and debated on the floor in protest of Democrats’ exclusion of funding to address the humanitarian and security crisis at the Southern border. While amendment votes are supposed to last 2 minutes, it’s usually closer to 5 minutes before the presiding chair gavels the vote.
Given the protracted debate and votes, other lawmakers repeatedly expressed their displeasure with the strategy employed by Roy & his compatriots, who were undeterred:
Among the notable amendments that have received votes so far:
- Rep. Mark Pocan’s (D-WI) amendment to bar implementation of the Trump administration’s ban on fetal tissue research was adopted on a 225-193 vote.
- Rep. Martha Roby’s (R-AL) amendment to restrict federal family planning funding from going to abortion providers failed on a 191-231 vote despite the support of three Democrats and all Republicans.
- Rep. Joaquin Castro’s (D-TX) amendment to require the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement to report to Congress about the deaths of all children that occur under their custody was adopted 355-68.
- Rep. Tom Cole’s (R-OK) amendment to remove riders that prohibit conscience protections under HHS policy failed on a 192-230 vote.
- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) amendment to allow federally-funded medical research using marijuana and psychedelic research failed in a 91-331 vote and gained the support of seven Republicans.
- Rep. French Hill’s (R-AR) amendment to remove $100 million in funding for the Obamacare ‘Navigators’ program which aims to connect consumers with insurance plans failed on a mostly party-line vote of 186-237.
After today’s final vote was cast and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had their colloquy on the floor to discuss next week’s agenda, Roy double-checked with Hoyer that no amendments would be offered during Friday’s pro forma session. With that confirmed, the House will wrap up debate and votes on the remaining amendments for the nearly-$1 trillion “minibus” spending bill sometime after it returns to the Capitol on Tuesday.
— Eric Revell
(Photo Credit: iStock.com / erick4x4)
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