Congressional clock management drags Trump’s “big, beautiful bill”
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Soccer and basketball coaches are watch management experts.
So does lawmakers.
Coaches are proficient at burning enough time to run plays and saving enough time. Or prevent other teams from doing so.
Congress’ clock management is very different.
Trump $3.3T Megaville sets home records for the longest vote in history
Whatever the lawmakers say they do – it always takes a very long time to do it to them.
That is the temporary politics that passes through the president. Donald Trump“Big, Beautiful Building” has overwhelmed everyone who works at Capitol Hill over the past few weeks.
That ranges from lawmakers themselves to aides, journalists, Capitol custodians, and police officers at the U.S. Capitol.
To wit:
Congressional Republicans have kicked out since February through variations in the framework and repetitions of large, beautiful bills. But things eventually got worse when the House of Representatives adopted the formal version of the package on May 22nd, beating the anniversary goal for four days.
There was a chatter about the Senate working on the House package in the week of June 9th. Then it fell into the week of June 15th. The Senate was to process versions of the bill that week and sync the House of Representatives for the week of June 22nd.
Then those hopes were shattered.
That goes without saying that the Senate votes to even proceed with starting discussions at least at the end of the week of June 15th.
This is what really happened. And it highlights how the process lasts for Capitol Hill, especially in highly complex and controversial laws.
On Monday, June 23rd, Republican senators spoke about a procedural vote on Wednesday or Thursday, June 25th or 26th to launch discussions on the large and beautiful bill. Such a vote takes just 51 years. However, the bill was not ready. Republicans were still writing and drafting bills to close with Senate budget rules. The GOP also aimed to write law in the 51 court to crack procedural hurdles and formally begin debate.
The middle of the week came, and the Senate did not vote on procedurally. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. , and Thom Tillis, Rn. C. opposed the launch of discussions on the incomplete bill.
So the middle of the week transformed into a weekend, and when the Senate was convened on Saturday, June 28th, Fox News was told that the Chamber of Commerce would vote to start debate at about 4pm.
Well, you guessed that.
The Senate did not trigger that vote until Saturday at 7:31pm. And the 15-minute vote took place in three and 38 minutes. The Senate closed its votes at 11:09pm.
Saturday – In case Vice President JD Vance is nearby and his services were needed to break the tie.
They weren’t.
At least it’s not a day.
However, Vance played a pivotal role in negotiating with Senator Johnson, Senator Rick Scott, R-FLA and others, greenlighting the Senate from the bill.
However, Senate minority leaders Chuck SchumerDn.Y., and later forced the Senate clerk to read the entire 940-page invoice loudly. The enterprise spent less than 16 hours of floor time. Store clerks – their voices cracked and ho – ended a few minutes after 3pm on Sunday. This was the first time a senator had requested a store clerk to read the bill verbally before the Senate since 2021.
So, as the clerk concluded the orator, it was believed that the Senate might go all night long in a marathon voting session known as “Vote for the Llama.”
But this is Congress time.
The senators did not begin voting for the llama until 9:40am on Monday. 12 hours later, Senate majority leader John Tune, Rs.D. suggested it was time to “get it out” the final group of amendments needed to close the bill.
Some moaned at the concept. One senator told Fox News that he was a little late in the game 12 hours later and “knowing” something of its size.
The Senate then struggled all night on Monday and Tuesday. Thune and GOP leadership eventually signed a contract with Sen. Lisa Murkowski of R-Alaska at a rural hospital, marshaling her vote. The Senate approved the bill after a closing session late Tuesday morning. Vance has returned to break the tie in what is called the “Van Halen” vote. The tally has been 50-50 since the three GOP senators defected. However, Vance’s vote won the roll call “51-50”.
For beginners in Van Halen’s discography, “5150” was Van Halen’s first album with new lead singer Sammy Hagar, which replaces David Lee Ross. It reached number one on the Billboard chart.
Then it was at home.
The House Rules Committee serves as a gateway for the law to head to the floor. We held a meeting early on Tuesday afternoon. The Senate will soon send a revamped version of the big beautiful bill throughout the Capitol Dome to align the house. The Rules Committee then met until about 1am on Wednesday to prepare bills for the floor.
This meant that the house could vote by late Wednesday afternoon.
However, there was a problem.
House GOP leaders have discovered what they call “technical errors” in the rules. The entire house must first approve the rules before discussing the law on the floor. Therefore, the house had to vote for the revision first. That vote began early Wednesday afternoon and lasted another 7 hours and 31 minutes. It established the longest roll-call voting record in House history, surpassing the 7-hour-21-minute vote in 2021.
Some Republicans were not on the Capitol. However, they bought time to open the vote and tackle skeptical GOP members who could be held out.
Speaker of the House of Representatives on Wednesday at about 9:30pm Mike Johnsonr-la. decided to dare to place their vote cards wherever they were opposed to the bill. Republican leaders have finished voting for “technical corrections” and have gone ahead with the “rules.” If the House adopts the rules, the bill can be formally discussed. If the member failed to approve the rules, the house was stuck.
The tally committee behind Day in the house’s room resided relatively quickly. All 216 Democrats said they also had four GOP No votes and several refused to vote. Republicans could only lose three votes and still managed to pass the rules. Rep. Thomas Massey (R-Ky.) was yes on the rules despite his opposition to the bill. He then switched to NO as the votes were dragged. But Massy ultimately supported the rules.
Hakeem Jeffries breaks Kevin McCarthy’s record while stalling Trump’s “big and beautiful bill”
Rep. Victoria Spartz, R. India, Keith Self, R-Texas, Andrew Clyde, R-GA, and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-PA. However, around 1am there was a movement. Some of those who voted to hold out met Johnson and other GOP leaders. It seemed to pry out holdouts and enemy votes, except for Fitzpatrick.
However, there was a problem.
Rep. Scott Perry, R-PA. – I didn’t vote – I went home to Pennsylvania. So everyone on the Capitol was patiently waiting for Perry to come back. He made it around 3:30am on Thursday. Everyone except Fitzpatrick voted as a block in favor of this rule. The House had the vote to begin debating the rules.
It looked like the house might vote at dawn on the actual bill itself.
But the office of minority leaders Hakeem JeffriesDn.Y. told Fox News Wednesday that Jeffries will be speaking for about an hour at the end of the discussion. There is a habit of the top leaders of both parties being “different” to speak on the floor. However, this is a “magic portion.” As courtesy to those leaders, they speak as much as they want.
Jeffries began speaking just before 5am on Thursday and ended up 8 hours and 45 minutes later on Thursday at 1:30pm. Jeffries shattered the 8-hour and 32-minute mark in 2021 by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif). McCarthy set records as a minority leader.
So, members of the House of Representatives hoping to jump on an early morning flight and return home on July 4th will have to wait.
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Mike Johnson wasn’t nearly as long as Jeffries. However, he said the late President Ronald Reagan had said he shouldn’t run for more than 20 minutes.
Johnson spoke for 23 minutes.
The House then voted and eventually passed Bill 218-214 at 2:31pm on Thursday. Fitzpatrick and Massie were the only GOP NOES.
It is said that there is no sufficient time in life. And if you’re working on Capitol Hill, it’s probably even less, thanks to Congressional Watch Management.