On Friday, the House took up the COVID-19 emergency relief bill belatedly passed by the Senate late Wednesday night after Democratic delays. But while the Democrats were to blame for the days-long hold up in the Senate, a maverick Republican congressman is now threatening to hold up its passage in the House. Responding to the development, President Trump unloaded on the “third rate grandstander.”
“The senate did some voodoo just like with Obamacare,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) tweeted Thursday. “Took a House Bill (HR 748) dealing with taxes, stripped every word, and put their bill in it. The House is just as responsible for killing the origination clause as the Senate. It’s the House’s job to reject the process.”
“$2 trillion (Congress) +$4 trillion (Fed & Treasury) [=] $6 trillion stimulus,” he tweeted in a follow-up post. “$6 trillion divided by 350 million citizens = $17,000 per citizen times a family of 4 =$68,000 per family of new national debt and dollar devaluation in this stimulus. not a good deal.”
In another tweet, the congressman suggested that he would require a quorum of lawmakers, 216, to be present to vote, citing Article 1, Section 5, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution.
The senate did some voodoo just like with Obamacare. Took a House Bill (HR 748) dealing with taxes, stripped every word, and put their bill in it. The House is just as responsible for killing the origination clause as the Senate. It’s the House’s job to reject the process. pic.twitter.com/BiGcmAwJS6
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) March 26, 2020
$2 trillion (Congress)
+$4 trillion (Fed & Treasury)
———————————
$6 trillion stimulus$6 trillion divided by 350 million citizens = $17,000 per citizen
times a family of 4
=$68,000 per family of new national debt and dollar devaluation in this stimulus.
not a good deal
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) March 26, 2020
US Constitution
ARTICLE I, SECTION 5, CLAUSE 1
Quorum requirement: pic.twitter.com/OT65x4vDkD— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) March 26, 2020
Massie’s move “left many angry lawmakers scrambling to return to the nation’s capital amid a pandemic in which Americans have been urged to self-quarantine or keep their distance from one another,” the Star Tribune reported. The congressman “set the House on edge by threatening to try to force a roll call vote. Party leaders had hoped to pass the measure by voice vote without lawmakers having to take the risk of traveling to Washington,” the outlet explains.
In response to Massie’s eleventh-hour stunt, Trump unloaded online, hammering the congressman for potentially forcing a “both dangerous and costly” delay.
“Looks like a third rate Grandstander named [Rep. Thomas Massie], 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 [and] costly. Workers [and] 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!”
“By empowering the Radical Left Democrats, do nothing Kentucky politician [Rep. Thomas Massie] is making their War on the 2nd Amendment more and more difficult to win (But don’t worry, we will win anyway!),” Trump added in another tweet. “He is a disaster for America, and for the Great State of Kentucky!”
…& 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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 27, 2020
By empowering the Radical Left Democrats, do nothing Kentucky politician @RepThomasMassie is making their War on the 2nd Amendment more and more difficult to win (But don’t worry, we will win anyway!). He is a disaster for America, and for the Great State of Kentucky!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 27, 2020
After multiple delays from Democratic congressional leaders, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed (96-0) the largest stimulus bill in history Wednesday night, a package totaling $2.2 trillion in relief measures, including $1,200 checks to most American adults (and another $500 for most children), a $500 billion loan program for struggling businesses, cities and states, nearly $400 billion for employee-retention funds for small businesses and another $130 billion for hospitals, among other provisions.
Pelosi has expressed confidence that the bill will pass in the House despite a large number of “disappointed” Democrats, among them democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who wanted more progressive “wishlist” provisions in the bill.
Related: WATCH: Ted Cruz Explains How The $2 Trillion Relief Bill Got Passed And What It Means For Americans