Massie’s push for recorded pandemic vote fails

WASHINGTON — When Rep. Thomas Massie heard that House leaders wanted to pass a $2 trillion stimulus measure to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic without so much as a recorded vote, he swung into outraged action.

He got into his black Tesla on Wednesday and began the drive from his home in northeastern Kentucky to the Capitol, determined to object to its quick passage and insist that lawmakers show up in person — in defiance of public health advice — to register their support or opposition.

Mr. Massie, a libertarian whose contrarian streak has earned him the moniker “Mr. No,” ultimately failed when House leaders in both parties united to deflect his stunt, assembling enough lawmakers for a quorum and allowing the bill to pass by voice vote. President Donald Trump signed the bill later in the afternoon.

But putting down his oneman revolt required scores of House members to scramble late Thursday to return to Washington from all corners of the country, infuriated and worried as they put their health on the line amid a rapidly spreading pandemic to grudgingly board empty flights or drive back to the Capitol.

Mr. Massie has never been one of the more beloved members of the House, but Friday, he became in short order its most reviled representative, bringing together Democrats and Republicans — who had spent days fighting bitterly over the economic aid bill.

“Looks like a third rate Grandstander named @RepThomasMassie, a Congressman from, unfortunately, a truly GREAT state, Kentucky, wants to vote against the new Save Our Workers Bill in Congress,” Mr. Trump wrote in his first of two Twitter rebukes. “He just wants the publicity.”

House leaders had planned to pass the mammoth government aid package by voice vote in an effort to allow fewer representatives to return to Washington, reducing the health risk to lawmakers. But that method can be stymied by just one vocal objector, and despite behind-the-scenes pleas, Mr. Massie refused to commit to allowing it.

That meant Democratic and Republican leaders, betting that Mr. Massie would carry through on his threats, had to urge their members to come back to the Capitol to form a quorum, even as public health officials around the country advised against travel and large gatherings.

His unwillingness to bend on even the smallest issue has charmed powerful conservative groups, including the Club for Growth and FreedomWorks. His closest friends on Capitol Hill are Rep. Justin Amash, a Republican turned independent from Michigan who is also a frequent invoker of constitutional principle, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.