House Speaker Nancy Pelosi scheduled a vote Monday evening for a hefty bill dropped on Congress earlier that same day. The spending bill totals nearly 5,600 pages.
The bill was unavailable prior to this afternoon, a delay reportedly caused by “computer glitch[es].” In addition to the $900 billion in pandemic stimulus spending, the bill includes $1.4 trillion for other expenditures.
Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) (pictured above) tweeted that he didn’t believe he could cast his vote on a bill without reading it completely.
“Sorry, @SpeakerPelosi. I actually like to read legislation before I cast my vote,” stated Green. “At 5,593 pages, this bill is going to take me more time than the 6 hours Congress has been given to read it. This is utterly irresponsible!”
Sorry, @SpeakerPelosi. I actually like to read legislation before I cast my vote.
At 5,593 pages, this bill is going to take me more time than the 6 hours Congress has been given to read it.
This is utterly irresponsible!
— Rep. Mark Green (@RepMarkGreen) December 21, 2020
As Green explained that it would take a reading pace of 16 pages per minute to read the bill in its entirety before the vote.
Later that evening, Green issued a facetious response to a video of the massive bill being carted to the floor.
“Speaker Pelosi deserves a page in the Guinness Book of World Records for how fast a reader she must be!” wrote Green.
Other Republican representatives didn’t issue any remarks on the matter after the text was released. Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) took a lighthearted approach to the sudden renewed push to pass the stimulus bill, tweeting on Sunday to joke that the bill is a “one-day government funding bill.”
Meanwhile, Senator Marsha Blackburn strafed Speaker Pelosi for the naked partisanship on display throughout 2020 with her and the Democrat’s refusal to negotiate with Republicans to pass the much needed relief.
“Since July, Senate Republicans have been working to provide the American people with targeted economic relief in the face of the COVID pandemic,” Blackburn said in a statement late Monday. “Congressional Democrats fought us every inch of the way, and held this relief hostage as they pressed for over $3 trillion in special interest giveaways. They admittedly used a pandemic to push a socialistic agenda.”
Despite the senator’s strong support of vaccine development, support for school and universities, and critical relief to Tennessee small business, Blackburn ultimately could not vote for the massive $2.4 trillion dollar price tag.
She explained, “I have serious concerns with provisions buried in the 5,593 page bill, such as expanded visas, Pell grants for prisoners, and households with illegal aliens receiving economic impact payments. For these reasons, I voted no on passage of this legislation.”
Tennessee Democrats Representatives Jim Cooper (D-TN-05) and Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) both praised the bill for providing some financial relief to the country.
“After this difficult year & as the holidays near, glad some long-overdue #COVIDrelief’s finally here,” wrote Cohen. “Despite Scrooge #McConnell, Dems secured #StimulusChecks, rent aid & more. More is needed, but for now ppl can stay in their homes, put food on the table & spread holiday cheer.”
Pelosi didn’t issue any statements on the bill Monday, instead focusing on celebrating the removal of the Robert E. Lee Statue from the U.S. Capitol and the expansion of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress.
Pelosi scheduled the vote on the bill at 8 pm EST.
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Corinne Murdock is a reporter at The Tennessee Star News and the Star News Network. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to [email protected].
Representatives should push back when congressional leaders attempt to cram bills through congress. I do not believe any representative could have read the bill in order to place an informed vote. Kudos to the representatives that voted no.
Or said Representative could use his brain split the bill up into parts and actually use the staff he’s given around a quarter of a million dollars to read and paraphrase the sections of the bill. You know like every other member of Congress. His excuse is laughable when he routinely votes on bills he is given by ALEC and other lobbys without ever actually reading the contents.
I applaud the TN Federal representatives that voted no. Too much debt for so little relief to Americans. Nancy should be run out of office.
In addition to Senator Blackburn and Reps. Burchett (TN-2) and Green (TN-7), Reps. DesJarlais (TN-4) and Rose (TN-6) also voted against this bill.
Senator Alexander voted FOR the bill, along with Reps. Roe (TN-1), Fleischmann (TN-3), and Kustoff (TN-8).
Merry Christmas, China! Oh, wait, better make that, “Happy Holidays”.
P.S. – I’m amused by Cohen’s remark, “[F]or now ppl can stay in their homes, put food on the table & spread holiday cheer.” Hasn’t the Uniparty banned spreading anything this Christmas?
Yes representative Cohen $600 will do every bit of that
So glad that RINO Alexander is on his way out. Took too long to get rid of him. Now we will have to watch Hagerty. Figure he will be too much like Bob Corker.
just tried to send the dude an email. oops, his system is down for maintenance. another way of hiding from us.
President Trump tried at least twice to get Nancy Pelosi to agree to a stand alone bill in the summer and early October that would have sent $1200 out to Americans but she would not agree, saying that Trump was only interested in sending out checks with his name on it. It is easy to make fun of someone wheeling a Covid relief bill in on a cart, but there is no image that demonstrates the dysfunction of Washington more than that one does. It is mostly loaded with payback for political support and social justice items with billions going overseas (I wonder how gender programs in Pakistan became a priority during the pandemic). It appears that special interests and providing as much damage to President Trump have been more important to the left than the suffering of everyday Americans. But hey, if you believe socialism is headed our way you can’t have a healthy economy or happy people buy into what the left will be selling.
Correction, omnibus spending bill and not specifically covid but should have been separate.
Just remember America this bill gives more money to Asia and Africa than it does to the AMERICAN PEOPLE!!!!
Never sign on the dotted line until you have read it all, Pelosi is a lying Democratic Communist traitor, just setting the president up, the dried up old hag!
agree. we need to take our pitchforks and shovels and go to washington for a good whup as# session