The House is Voting and Voting…

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If, on the odd chance, you’re a fan of C-SPAN, you may have noticed that the House has been stuck voting on motions to adjourn – four of them today thus far. That is because the GOP is protesting – as they have been for a week. The scuffle started when Dems moved to cut off GOP amendments to the Commerce, Justice and science appropriations bill, calling the dizzying number of Republican amendments tantamount to a filibuster. The GOP responded by forcing 52 roll call votes in a day – a record. The same is happening today with the Homeland Security appropriations bill after the Rules Committee late last night moved to limit the number of GOP amendments to 14. Historically, appropriations bills have been bipartisan and open to amendments on the floor. “They’re trying to ramrod as much spending through this Congress as they can, and as fast as they can– that’s why they continue to limit the number of amendments,” House Minority Leader John Boehner told reporters this morning. “And I’ve got to believe that Thomas Jefferson would be rolling over in his grave if he saw how House Democratic leaders were running the Congress of the United States. They’re turning it into a banana republic.”

With just two of the 12 appropriations bills done, this promises to be a long appropriations season. Though, some House Republicans seem to be losing their appetite for the many motions to adjourn. On the first vote 75 Republicans voted against it. That number expanded to 96 on the second vote, 139 on the third vote and 144 on the fourth.