Paul Ryan Sticks it to the GOP Again
by Shari Dovale
Paul Ryan again showed his contempt for the Conservative agenda by arranging a vacated vote today.
The House was scheduled to vote on legislation to prevent the Obama administration from lifting sanctions on Iranian entities unless it certifies they aren’t involved with terrorism or the country’s ballistic missile program.
However, like a strict schoolmaster, Paul Ryan cannot abide even a minute of tardiness. The norm in Washington DC is that lawmakers do not run on the same clock as everyone else. This may be irritating, but it has been happening for as long as most can remember.
Boehner would chastise the Representatives. Paul Ryan however, went further, by sabotaging a very important vote.
As a result, more than 130 lawmakers missed the vote, which was gaveled down when the tally hit 191-106, thus forcing it to be vacated to a later date. Now, the House likely won’t vote on the legislation until after the Iran sanctions are already starting to be lifted.
The previously scheduled vote was designed as a response to Iran’s recent ballistic missile tests, which have sparked bipartisan outrage. Democrats largely oppose the bill because of concerns that it would prevent the U.S. from upholding its part of the nuclear deal with Iran. “[It’s] a very important vote on Iran, and one that everyone wanted to be on record [for]. And many people were in the chamber, and according to what I hear some of the Republicans say, they were coming in the door,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said during a press briefing immediately after the vote. “So I think the gaveling was premature, but I think the Speaker is rightfully serious about expeditiously dealing with the votes in a timely fashion.”
A spokesman for House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told The Hill that a plan is in the works for the House to conduct a re-vote of the legislation when it returns from recess the week of Jan. 25. The fact that it was vacated means that there is not a formal record of who was in the chamber, and who was not.
I wonder how the House Freedom Caucus, and our own Rep. Raul Labrador, will respond to this outrage? I am sure they will continue to support Ryan, as they did after the crippling Omnibus fiasco.
