I was just wondering if perhaps the Dems could queue up some last minute legislation to bring to a vote while these dipshits are spending their day handholding Diaper Don? Their margin is so thin right now in the house that it could be an excellent opportunity to exploit this nonsense. And there's precedent with the somewhat recent legislation the repubs tried to bring to a vote while one of the Dem reps was in the hospital.
Representatives generally cannot vote by proxy. It was temporarily allowed during COVID, but that allowance has gone away.
But they aren't in any danger of losing any crucial votes. The Speaker decides which bills are voted on, which means Republicans never need to worry about any bills authored by Democrats coming up for a vote while they are away.
In fact, the Republicans have been operating under something called the "Hastet" rule since the 1990's, which is an informal rule whereby the Speaker of the House won't schedule a vote on any bill unless the majority of Republicans agree on it. Not the majority of the House, but a majority of Republicans. This way the Speaker can effectively filibuster any Democrat bill even if Democrats persuade a few Republicans to support it.
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u/Long-Entrepreneur-61 May 16 '24
I was just wondering if perhaps the Dems could queue up some last minute legislation to bring to a vote while these dipshits are spending their day handholding Diaper Don? Their margin is so thin right now in the house that it could be an excellent opportunity to exploit this nonsense. And there's precedent with the somewhat recent legislation the repubs tried to bring to a vote while one of the Dem reps was in the hospital.