The House passed legislation Monday night to help Capitol Hill Police officers injured during an assassination attempt on the Republican baseball team last month. It passed easily by voice vote, and notably, without the support of Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., who’s running in a special Senate election primary on Aug. 15.
When asked by the Washington Examiner if Brooks was in Washington to support the bill, Brooks’ communications director, Clay Mills, answered that “[Brooks] was not. He was campaigning.”
As a matter of policy, the legislation would amend regulations concerning the Capitol Police Memorial Fund which only allows support for the families of deceased officers.
As a matter of politics, missing the vote could cause irreparable harm to the Brooks campaign.
Brooks is locked in a three-way special election battle for Alabama’s open Senate seat. Recently he has come under fire for showcasing his heroics in a campaign ad meant to highlight his support for the Second Amendment.
Leadership Republicans were quick to pounce on Brooks after the ad was released on Monday. “The day of the shooting,” tweeted Scalise chief of staff, Brett Horton, “while waiting at the hospital, I avoided the news/audio/video as much as possible. This makes my stomach turn.”
Asked whether or not Brooks simply missed the vote because of a scheduling gaffe, Mills responded that, “It was not an accident. I can’t speak to if Rep. Brooks personally knew if that bill would be considered, though.”
Brooks was flying and unavailable for comment at the time. And while it’s not clear how the missed vote will play down in Alabama, there’s no doubt that when he lands, the conservative will be met with a hailstorm of Beltway criticism.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
