Poor @RobWittman had to go up and down the worst stretch of I-95 on Christmas Eve for 45 seconds of floor action.
@daveweigel@RobWittman So here's what happened: there actually was no objection on the floor per se. Hoyer asked for UC, chair @RepDebDingell said under the rules she can't entertain a UC request, Hoyer asked her to clarify to point out @GOPLeader was objecting, and that was that.
Wittman did the same thing on the other side. In the end, the big winner was @realDonaldTrump who had his entire NDAA veto message read aloud to a larger than usual @cspan audience.
Closing thought -- here's a TV special I'd watch: A Debbie Dingell Christmas
Almost exactly six hours after 5,593-page bill was circulated, the House is now taking first of two consecutive votes to pass it. Expect it all to wrap sometime b/w 9:15 and 9:45 p.m. Senate action to follow tonight.
And it passes just after 9:10 p.m. Portion with covid relief approved 359-53. Now to the Senate, which could take some time as clerks review bill, prep for transmission.
It's 10:48 p.m., and the Senate is voting on the massive covid/omnibus/tax/energy/intel/water/pipeline/surprise billing/etc/etc/etc bill. That's nine hours after introduction, but who's counting?
So this is a frequent reaction to these giant "Christmas Tree" bills, but it's off target for the vast majority of the included items. Many of these legislators will gladly and gleefully take credit for these items!
The major reason why these bills get loaded up is that the Senate barely passes any standalone legislation any more, save for the most innocuous items. That creates massive pressure to hitch a ride on items that do move, like this one.
Yes, part of it is the choice of @senatemajldr to focus on nominations; part of it is the mutual partisan gamesmanship that have weaponized Senate rules; part of it is one obstreperous senator can slow things down.
For the record, it's more than 1,000 pages longer than the FY21 NDAA, which was developed over the course of months and available for five days before the House passed it.
What's next:
House Rules Cmte meets 2:45. That mtg could take 1 hour.
Then to the floor: 1 hr of rule debate then about 1 hr for rule vote.
Then at least 1 hr of bill debate, maybe more. Then ~90 mins for TWO votes on diff pieces of bill, which are then merged & sent to Senate.
How long is this bill going to be? Many, many hundreds of pages. For a taste:
-FY20 omni: 933pp
-CARES Act: 335pp
-Surprise billing draft: 372pp
-Energy bill draft: 555pp
-House-passed WRDA: 369pp
-House intel reauth: 220pp
-Also pipeline reauth, USMCA fixes
= Easily 3000+ pages
Update: I am staring at a file timestamped 5:07 a.m. that runs 3,116 pp long. It appears to include every part of the bill EXCEPT the $1.4T omnibus and the $900B covid relief package.
If the final bill includes this package, one item of note: It will establish the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum and the National Museum of the American Latino, which were both blocked by @SenMikeLee earlier this month.
McCONNELL: "More help is on the way. Moments ago in consultation with our committees the four leaders of the Senate and House finalized in agreement for another major rescue package for the American people."
"At long last, we have the bipartisan breakthrough the country has needed. Now we need to promptly finalize text, avoid any last minute obstacles, and cooperate to move this legislation through both chambers."