Politics

Chip Roy Blocks Disaster Aid Package In The House

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Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy blocked a disaster aid bill in the House by objecting to a unanimous consent vote Friday, delaying $19.1 billion dollars of aid.

“I’m here today primarily because if I do not object, Congress will have passed into law a bill that spends $19 billion of taxpayer money without members of Congress being present in our nation’s capital to vote on it,” Roy, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, said on the floor. “Secondly, it’s a bill that includes nothing to address the clear national emergency and humanitarian crisis we have at our southern border.”

Roy blocked the unanimous consent vote for three reasons. “Congress would have passed into law a bill that spends a significant amount of tax payer money without members of Congress even being present in our nation’s capital to vote on it,” he said in a statement. Roy blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for trying to pass a bill without members of Congress being present.

Roy also mentioned, “The bill includes nothing to address the clear national emergency and humanitarian crisis we face at our southern border.” The Texas Republican lastly said he is “troubled by the fact it spends over $19 billion that is not paid for when we are racking up approximately $100 million an hour in national debt. This is a bipartisan problem that we should solve in Congress rather than ignore.”

This all comes as Senate negotiators agreed to a nearly $20 billion disaster relief package for Americans Thursday, with hopes it would pass the House Friday.

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.

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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