- Jul 2, 2003
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Why the debate on the relief bill will be shorter than the GOP hoped
Seems funny to me.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) followed through on his threat last night and forced Senate clerks to read every word of the COVID relief bill out loud. The time-wasting stunt, which served no substantive purpose, had the intended effect: instead of working, the Senate halted for 10 hours and 44 minutes to indulge the Wisconsin Republican's wishes.....
Under the procedural rules, at least one Republican senator had to be on the Senate floor during the bill reading. If not, a Democrat would motion to end the time-wasting stunt and there'd be no objections. As a result, Johnson spent several hours on the floor last night in order to protect his pointless gambit, occasionally being relieved by GOP colleagues.
Once the reading of the bill was finished, Republicans left, satisfied that the exercise was complete and the hours had ticked by. But a handful of Senate Democrats lingered, and as USA Today noted, they got something they wanted, too.
The Senate was originally set to begin 20 hours of debate on the bill Friday, but at the end of Thursday's session, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., motioned for the chamber to reduce the debate time to three hours. With no Republicans left in the chamber shortly after 2 a.m. ET on Friday, Van Hollen succeeded.
Under the procedural rules, at least one Republican senator had to be on the Senate floor during the bill reading. If not, a Democrat would motion to end the time-wasting stunt and there'd be no objections. As a result, Johnson spent several hours on the floor last night in order to protect his pointless gambit, occasionally being relieved by GOP colleagues.
Once the reading of the bill was finished, Republicans left, satisfied that the exercise was complete and the hours had ticked by. But a handful of Senate Democrats lingered, and as USA Today noted, they got something they wanted, too.
The Senate was originally set to begin 20 hours of debate on the bill Friday, but at the end of Thursday's session, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., motioned for the chamber to reduce the debate time to three hours. With no Republicans left in the chamber shortly after 2 a.m. ET on Friday, Van Hollen succeeded.
Seems funny to me.