House passes $2 trillion coronavirus package — but not without last-minute drama

Source: Politico | March 27, 2020 | Heather Caygle and Sarah Ferris

GOP Rep. Thomas Massie’s move threatened to delay passage of the bill.

The House passed a sweeping, $2 trillion coronavirus relief package Friday that will provide immediate assistance to many Americans, small businesses and major industries on the brink of economic collapse amid the ongoing pandemic.

But the House vote wasn’t without some last minute drama, as members from across the country scrambled to return to Washington to block Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) from delaying passage of the bill.

The legislation — the largest rescue package in U.S. history — will now go to President Donald Trump for his signature. The president is expected to quickly sign the bill into law after giving it a full-throated endorsement earlier this week.

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The massive rescue package ultimately passed by voice vote, but not before an extraordinary scene played out in the House chamber.

In a series of tweets late Friday morning, Massie confirmed plans to demand a recorded vote, meaning members would physically have to come to the chamber to have their vote recorded. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) tried to talk Massie out of it on the House floor, to no avail.

After it became clear Massie wouldn’t relent, leadership started taking steps to block his move. In a plan devised by Hoyer the night before, lawmakers were brought into the chamber, including in the public galleries above the floor to allow them to distance themselves for safety. By having a quorum of members in the chamber — at least 216 lawmakers, including in the public galleries — they could block Massie’s request for a recorded vote and pass the proposal by voice vote.

At 1 p.m. Pelosi took the floor to essentially stall for time as both parties’ whip teams could corral enough members on the floor. At one point, Pelosi urged her members to move even more quickly: “Come on, my colleagues, to the gallery!”

The plan worked — Massie was quickly overruled and the bill passed without members having to take a recorded vote. But lawmakers in both parties were still irate that they had to be present at all, endangering themselves and the dozens of congressional and Capitol support staff on hand, all because of Massie’s singular objection.

President Donald Trump lambasted Massie in a series of tweets Friday, calling him a “third rate grandstander” and suggesting Republican leaders boot him out of the party.

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