House Democrats cried foul as their Republican counterparts rammed through legislation to keep the government funded until September. And then most of them supported the underlying bill, anyway.
The lower chamber passed a $1.3-trillion omnibus funding bill on Thursday, in a 256-167 vote, one day before the last short-term funding bill was set to expire.
Most Democrats backed the measure, after every member of the party but one rejected the terms of debate, which were controversially adopted by the House in a procedural motion just before the final vote.
When the Republican presiding as Speaker closed the debate motion, it was at 211 yeas to 207 nays. Nine Democrats and three Republicans had yet to cast their votes.
The rushed procedure was noted by Politico reporter Jake Sherman in a series of tweets.
“Something extraordinary just happened on the floor. Republicans closed the vote while democrats were yelling they wanted to vote,” Sherman said.
“This is rare,” he added. “Majority usually gives the minority time to vote. Instead, knowing they may vote no, they pushed through before 11 [sic] Dems could cast their ballot.”
The procedural motion failing would have led to a delay in consideration of the government funding bill. The House Rules Committee would have been forced to mark up new terms for debate.
House Democratic leaders claimed that their Republican counterparts were rushing to finish the legislation, a 2,232-page bill released last night, so that Congress could recess this weekend.
Conveniently for Republicans, a massive gun control rally is slated to descend on Washington this Saturday.
“They really want to get out of town before the March for Our Lives,” said Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), on the floor, before the final vote.
“It is being rushed through because some, perhaps, have fundraisers this weekend,” said Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), House Minority Whip.
While Hoyer did not support final passage of the bill, Pelosi did.
In the days running up the vote, the Democratic leaders took heat for giving up on pushing for a deal for Dreamers in the government funding bill.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), a strong advocate for Dreamers–about 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children–excoriated the compromise funding legislation, in a statement released on Wednesday.
“Anyone who votes for the Omnibus is voting for the deportation of Dreamers and other immigrants,” Gutierrez said.
