Politics

Rep Thomas Massie Blocks Disaster Aid Bill

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Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie blocked a disaster aid bill in the House by objecting to a unanimous consent vote Tuesday, delaying $19.1 billion dollars of aid.

“If the Speaker of this House felt that this was must-pass legislation, the Speaker of this House should have called a vote on this bill before sending every member of Congress on recess for 10 days and I object,” Massie said on the House floor.

This comes as Senate negotiators agreed to a nearly $20 billion disaster relief package for Americans Thursday, with hopes it would pass the House Friday. However, Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy originally blocked the disaster aid bill in the House by objecting to a unanimous consent vote, saying the bill should include funding for the crisis at the border and that members should be in town to actually vote on the legislation.

Roy thanked Massie, after he objected to the unanimous consent vote Tuesday, saying in a statement, “I commend my colleague, Rep. Massie, for objecting to today’s Unanimous Consent on a $19.1 billion-dollar emergency supplemental bill that has been languishing for over 8 months because Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic conference would rather play politics on impeachment than do the work of the people.”

A House aide told The Daily Caller News Foundation that House leadership was aware Roy was going to object to the unanimous consent vote before Friday and that others were likely to follow.

The bill will now likely face a third vote Thursday. If the measure is blocked again, that means the House likely wait until after June 4 to approve the bill.

Meanwhile, Pelosi pushed back on Roy’s objection, saying, “House Republicans’ last-minute sabotage of an overwhelmingly bipartisan disaster relief bill is an act of staggering political cynicism. Countless American families hit by devastating natural disasters across the country will now be denied the relief they urgently need.”

The legislation would provide aid to those affected by natural disasters, like the wildfires in California and hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico and the southeastern U.S.

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