$19.1 billion disaster aid bill stalls in House
The House WASHINGTON — won’t be able to clear a $19.1 billion disaster aid bill Friday, after a freshman GOP lawmaker objected to a unanimous consent request.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told reporters he planned to block the measure during the chamber’s pro forma session.
“The people, particularly in Texas, but people generally, are tired of the swamp and this is a very swampy thing to do — have a vote on a Friday heading into Memorial Day weekend and after we recess, when we could have done our job yesterday when we had 435 members of Congress who should be here and should vote,” Roy said.
As a result, House lawmakers will need to cast recorded votes after the weeklong Memorial Day recess, when the measure is expected to clear for President Donald Trump’s signature.
The disaster aid package came together Thursday during a series of last-minute negotiations between Republicans and Democrats. The agreement was announced after the vast majority of House members left the Capitol to start the weeklong Memorial break, leaving Democratic leaders to decide whether to pass the legislation without a roll call vote, or wait until members return June 4.
Because the House is in a pro forma session, the only option for quick passage was to obtain the unanimous consent of all House members. That didn’t happen.
The Senate was able to pass the bill by an 85-8 vote before its members left Thursday evening.
Trump tweeted his support for the package Thursday after the vote: “The U.S. Senate has just approved a 19 Billion Dollar Disaster Relief Bill, with my total approval. Great!”
Trump’s backing wasn’t enough to assuage Roy, a former top aide to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. In addition to process concerns, Roy told reporters he was upset negotiators dropped billions of dollars to help the Department of Health and Human Services process a surge of migrants at the southern border. At the same time, Roy said he was opposed to providing $19 billion that wasn’t offset.
It’s expected to be only a temporary delay, however.
Once signed, the disaster aid bill would provide billions of dollars to help Puerto Rico continue to recover from two deadly 2017 hurricanes as well as funding to help states and territories rebuild after a series of destructive storms and wildfires in 2018 and the first few months of 2019.
Congress will have to resolve the HHS funding issue quickly after lawmakers return, since the agency says it will have to start dipping into other program funds in order to fill an Office of Refugee Resettlement shortfall.