House Democrats struck back at conservative House Republicans, disarming their critical weapon in a procedural delay war.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, told reporters on Tuesday that he will make a motion to package required roll-call votes on suspension bills together into one vote rather than voting on each one individually. The final rule allowed en bloc roll-call votes for bills brought forward Monday or Tuesday until Thursday.
“Throughout modern history, the Suspension Calendar has offered a clear path for the House to vote on and approve matters of broad agreement and unity,” Hoyer said in a statement. “What we have seen in the past few weeks has been an unfortunate example of extreme partisanship getting in the way of even the most bipartisan legislation there is.”
That is a blow to Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, and other conservative Republicans after they have in recent weeks necessitated long evening voting sessions by forcing roll-call votes on “suspension” bills.
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Those typically noncontroversial proposals have a fast track to the House floor and may bypass the House Rules Committee. To pass, they require more than two-thirds support in the House and are often passed by voice vote, which can mean only a handful of lawmakers are present in the chamber.
Forcing roll-call votes on the bills, which last at least 30 minutes due to extended voting time because of the coronavirus pandemic, turns the usual quick process into hours, and the bills still pass overwhelmingly. It is partly a principled stance, with some members saying that it is necessary to record votes for every bill and others disagreeing with the content of some of the bills.
Biggs previously told the Washington Examiner it is important to “slow down the majority” and that he hoped continuous delays would have the effect of preventing some Democratic legislation from passing altogether.
The House Freedom Caucus was not pleased with Hoyer disarming its procedural delay weapon.
“The House Freedom Caucus is not ‘getting in the way.’ Rather, we are asking that every member of the House of Representatives cast an up or down vote on legislation — our fundamental job as members of Congress,” the group said in a statement. “Unless we called for a vote, the bills our Democratic colleagues are complaining about would have passed with fewer than 10 of the 435 members on the floor. That is not representation. That is legislative oligarchy.”
Hoyer’s assertion that members of the House Freedom Caucus are practicing “extreme partisanship,” the group said, “would hold some merit if there was any evidence that Hoyer, Speaker Pelosi, and House Democrats had so much as lifted a finger this Congress to work with Republicans on any issue.” They cited Democratic-only support for measures, including the Democrats’ voting rights overhaul bill and the Washington, D.C., statehood bill.
The move to group the suspension bills is not a total disappointment to the entire Republican conference, though. Historically, suspension bills are one of the main ways that the minority party pushes through its own legislation.
“I have spoken with many Members of the Republican Conference about this situation, and with this Rule only in force for this week, I hope they recognize the value of bipartisanship and we can return to using the Suspension Calendar process to govern responsibly for our constituents,” Hoyer said in a statement.
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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Democrat, is carefully managing the different factions in his caucus without publicly supporting or opposing the Freedom Caucus tactic.
“I’ve been meeting with Steny, and I went to the Freedom Caucus last night. We had a good discussion,” McCarthy told Politico. “They want to fight. They’re frustrated with everything that’s happening, and I get all that. But my point is: What’s the goal? What’s the strategy?”
