Day 43: Capitol on ‘Lockdown’
Amid threats of violence planned for today, the security measures around the U.S. Capitol Building tightened and the House canceled all hearings, but that’s old news by now. Another lockdown of sorts began this afternoon, when Senate Republicans requested that the 628-page Covid-19 relief bill be read aloud on the floor, before the 20 hours of debates and vote.
Experts estimate it may take Senate clerks 10 hours to complete the reading.
It’s been a long week at the Capitol already. The House passed two major bills after a mini-marathon on Friday that pushed through the American Rescue Plan with a 219-212 vote in the wee hours of Saturday morning and on Tuesday, Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) defended DC Statehood in his objection to a Congressional attempt to overturn local legislation.
Wednesday, the 30th anniversary of when Los Angeles police brutally assaulted Rodney King, Representatives passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act with a 220-212 vote (the one Republican who voted for the bill, Representative Lance Gooden [R-TX] later unofficially rescinded his vote via Twitter, tweeting that he voted for it by accident).
By Wednesday night, the House also passed H.R. 1, an election reforms bill they’ve introduced since 2019, with a 220-210 vote to institute independent redistricting commissions, campaign financing protections, early and absentee voting and former felons’ voting rights. It also requires automatic and same-day registration of eligible voters.
Republicans have decried the speed with which bills are passing, insisting that Democrats are using their majority advantage to overlook Republicans’ now minority voice. Some have even explicitly hinted at blocking any Democratic progress, including on the American Rescue Plan and even while one poll showed that 60 percent of Republican voters support the stimmy package.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has pushed for the $1.9 trillion Plan to become law before extensions on federally enhanced unemployment benefits expire on March 14th.
Just a few months ago, Republicans were in majority control and the transfer of power has been rife with accusations of the presidential election being stolen and the filing of more than 250 bills in 43 states to limit ballot access. March 4th, according to conspiracy theorists, was to be the day that former president Trump returns to his seat as the 19th U.S. president and one group threatened to again storm the Capitol with some 50,000 people if he were somehow blocked.
Although the day itself remained peaceful, Capitol Police are requesting, reportedly, that the National Guard stay for another couple of months.