Less than two hours before
shutting down the government, House Republicanscreated a special rule to
prevent Democrats from reopening the government. The House’s normal
rules provide that “[w]hen the stage of disagreement has been reached on a bill
or resolution with House or Senate amendments, a motion to dispose of any
amendment shall be privileged” — a provision that House Democrats believe would
have enabled any member of the House to force a vote on a bill to fund the
government that had already passed the Senate. Yet, as Dylan Scott reports, the
Republican caucus thwarted the maneuver by enacting a special rule preventing
this vote from taking place.
Under this special rule,
such an attempt to fund the government “may be offered only by the majority
Leader or his designee.” Thus, with a shutdown looming, the power to allow a
vote that would likely have prevented the
government from closing was left
in Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) hands. Cantor, of course, chose not to
exercise that power.
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