When the House of Representatives on Friday rushed to vote on a $2 trillion package to help Americans and businesses survive the coranvirus sweeping the nation, one lawmaker demanded a recorded roll call vote.
When a voice vote is taken, the individual votes of each lawmaker is not part of the official public record. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) tried to force a recorded vote. “Mr. Speaker, I came here to make sure our republic doesn’t die by unanimous consent in an empty chamber and I request a recorded vote,” Massie said on the House floor after driving from his home in Kentucky.
No one seconded his call, and minutes later the voice vote was held. A few “no” votes could be heard in the chamber, but no one knows who opposed the bill.
President Donald Trump ripped the member of his own party before the vote. “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. He just wants the publicity. He can’t stop it, only delay, which is both dangerous … & costly. Workers & small businesses need money now in order to survive. Virus wasn’t their fault. It is ‘HELL’ dealing with the Dems, had to give up some stupid things in order to get the ‘big picture’ done. 90% GREAT! WIN BACK HOUSE, but throw Massie out of Republican Party!” Trump wrote.
That drew a response from John Kerry, a former Democratic senator from Massachusetts who served as Secretary of State under former president Barack Obama.
“Breaking news: Congressman Massie has tested positive for being an asshole. He must be quarantined to prevent the spread of his massive stupidity. He’s given new meaning to the term #Masshole. (Finally, something the president and I can agree on!),” Kerry wrote.
And Kerry’s tweet prompted a response from Trump.
“Never knew John Kerry had such a good sense of humor! Very impressed!” Trump wrote.
Never knew John Kerry had such a good sense of humor! Very impressed! https://t.co/vCVNMUeY2h
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 27, 2020
Still, Massie expressed outrage Friday that his colleagues didn’t follow his lead.
“Are they afraid of the truth? I’ve been told that they don’t even have one minute available for me to speak against this bill during the four-hour debate. The fix is in. If this bill is so great for America, why not allow a vote on it?” Massie said. “Why not have a real debate?”
Massie explained his concern over the $2 trillion bill on Twitter, saying the bill was “stuffed full of [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi’s pork,” which includes $25 million to fix up the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Massie said the money in the stimulus “should go straight to the people rather than being funneled through banks and corporations like this bill is doing, adding that “millions of essential, working-class Americans are still required to go to work during this pandemic.”
“Is it too much to ask that the House do its job, just like the Senate did?”
Massie’s move to try to force a record vote angered members on both sides of the aisle.
Rep. Pete King (R-NY) tweeted his disgust about being forced to return the Capitol on Friday morning. “Heading to Washington to vote on pandemic legislation. Because of one Member of Congress refusing to allow emergency action entire Congress must be called back to vote in House. Risk of infection and risk of legislation being delayed. Disgraceful. Irresponsible,” he wrote.
“It’s an act of vanity and selfishness that goes beyond comprehension,” said Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI).