Democrats plan to bring the disaster aid bill back up today when the House meets for another pro forma session. "We'll bring it up again and again until everybody gets back, but hopefully it'll get done," said Rep Donna Shalala, D-Fla., If that fails, the House is scheduled to return on June 3 and will be able to hold a roll-call vote.
Because the House was in a pro forma session on Friday, the only option for quick passage was to obtain the unanimous consent of all House members. That didn't happen.
A lone lawmaker, Freshman Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, objected to a unanimous consent request, telling reporters he had concerns about the process as well as the substance of the legislation.
"The people, particularly in Texas, but people generally, are tired of the swamp and this is a very swampy thing to do — have a vote on a Friday heading into Memorial Day weekend and after we recess, when we could have done our job yesterday when we had 435 members of Congress who should be here and should vote," Roy said.
The conservative lawmaker said he hasn't decided if he'll return Tuesday to object to the House clearing the disaster aid bill and said he didn't know if another Republican might object if he decides to remain in Texas. "We'll see. There are others who have concerns, but all of us have obligations," he said.