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What would you say if one body of Congress didn’t take a formal roll call vote on a major piece of legislation – yet passed it at 2:19 on a Friday morning?
Would you try to outdo your colleagues across the Capitol Rotunda with some Congressional chicanery of your own? Perhaps by passing an equally important version of the same bill – while officially sidestepping a direct up/down vote on the measure – at 11:28 p.m. on that same Friday night.
That’s what happened late last week. The Senate scored approval from all 100 senators to pass a bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security for the rest of the fiscal year – but did it on a voice vote at 2:19 a.m. Friday with only five senators in the chamber.
House Republicans scoffed at this. So they passed their own bill – to fund all of DHS – just before the witching hour Friday. But technically, the House didn’t even vote directly on the legislation itself. The House voted to approve a “rule” (which manages debate for bills). With adoption of that rule, the House “deemed” the underlying DHS funding measure as passed.
GOP LEADERS ENDORSE TRUMP’S SHUTDOWN-PROOF MOVE TO END DHS FUNDING LAPSE
The Senate managed to net the approval of 100 senators to pass a bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security for the remainder of the fiscal year – but did it on a voice vote at 2:19 am Friday with only five senators in the chamber. (Emma Woodhead/Fox News Digital)
But despite all of this, the House and Senate weren’t aligned. They hadn’t approved the same bill. And despite the parliamentary antics, House Republicans then implored the Senate to pass the measure it approved Friday night on Monday morning – without a roll call vote and with just two senators in the chamber.
If you followed all of that, that is exactly what’s unfolded on Capitol Hill the past few days as lawmakers struggled to end the six-week Department of Homeland Security…
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