WASHINGTON–Partisan gridlock has at times slowed proceedings in Congress virtually to a halt. Not on Thursday.
Both the House and Senate Thursday passed a jumble of high-profile bills under rapid, occasionally eyebrow-raising, and sometimes downright sneaky procedures.
In the day’s boldest maneuver, House GOP and Democratic leaders enabled a measure to pass by staging a quick voice vote shortly after reconvening from a recess. The bill, a 12-month patch preventing a 24% cut to physicians’ Medicare payments from kicking in next week, faced ebbing support from lawmakers and industry groups pushing for a longer-term deal.
When leaders realized the bill, brokered by House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) and House Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.), might not have enough support to pass the House, they bypassed a roll-call vote, opting to pass the bill under a zippy process usually reserved for uncontroversial measures before most lawmakers realized what had happened.
When asked if he thought the process could be deemed sneaky, Rep. Gerald Connolly (D., Va.) turned to the Netflix show known for its devious political scheming: “To quote ‘House of Cards’: ‘You might say that. You might very well say that,’” he said.
Mr. Reid said he hoped the Senate could consider the measure later Thursday, but it was unclear if he would meet resistance not from Republicans, but from the newly-installed Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) who had been pushing for a multi-year deal.
Meanwhile, the Senate took a voice vote of its own to pass a measure expanding sanctions against Russian officials and providing assistance to its Ukraine. In a formal roll-call vote later, 10 Senate Republicans joined the Democratic caucus to begin debate on a measure to restore jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed until late May, though House GOP leaders have shown little appetite for taking it up in their chamber.
It was a tumultuous day even for spectators of Congress. Around 2:30 p.m. a 32-year-old man was arrested outside the Senate Gallery after a field test determined that his “green leafy substance” tested positive for marijuana, according to the U.S. Capitol Police.