‘The world was going to come down on me.’ KY lawmaker defends coronavirus actions
Northern Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie is not walking back his actions last week even though he felt the wrath of American politicians on both sides of the aisle when he attempted to force a recorded vote on the $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package Friday.
Massie initially argued the bill allocated too much money to issues other than financial relief to American families. Many Americans were promised $1,200 checks in the stimulus package. Massie said in a tweet Friday that the bill gives unnecessary money to the Kennedy Center, the National Endowment for the Humanities and Arts. He has since also said that the bill unnecessarily gives money to Wall Street.
He also said lawmakers should have to show up in the Capitol to vote on the bill, rather than allowing a “voice vote” — without members present — to pass the bill without recording the votes.
Massie made appearances on several radio and TV shows Monday to defend himself, including guest spots on Fox Business and “Glenn,” hosted by Glenn Beck.
“I knew the world was going to come down on me, but look, first of all, it’s unconstitutional to pass a bill without members present,” Massie said on Fox Business Monday afternoon. “But the problem with the whole scheme they had was that if you allow Nancy Pelosi to pass bills with nobody there . . . she’ll get to stick anything she wants in there.”
President Donald Trump took issue with Massey’s moves, calling him a “third rate grandstander” on Twitter, and demanding Massie be thrown out of the Republican Party.
When he said he would demand a quorum to vote on the bill Friday, Massie met a lot of opposition because health experts and political leaders recommended that people not travel or gather in large groups. Congress needed 216 representatives for a quorum Friday. Massie was dismissive of those concerns when speaking with Beck.
“They said — this is the rich one here — ‘it’s not safe for us,’” Massie said to Beck. “Listen, 96 senators made it to work on Tuesday. I can tell you, we should have been able to get at least 50% of our members there, especially when these congressmen are telling the truck drivers ‘keep driving.’ They’re telling the farmers ‘keep farming.’ They’re telling the grocery baggers, ‘bring it out to our car for us, please.’
“But these congressmen who are making $174,000 a year and getting their health care paid for by the taxpayers said ‘we don’t want to go to work.’”
Massie has since come out in favor of holding digital congressional hearings during this pandemic, according to his Twitter page.
“At a minimum, we should be holding public hearings on this virus using modern teleconferencing technology,” he said in a tweet.
Massie’s decision to demand a quorum and request a recorded vote also got attention from his election opponent, Democrat Alexandra Owensby. On Twitter, Owensby compared Massie to Adolf Hitler.
Massie made another radio appearance on 630 KHOW in Denver Tuesday morning.
He said on Monday that if there is a fourth coronavirus relief bill presented to Congress, he will vote no. House Democrats were looking to pass a fourth bill with more aid to state and local governments as well as individuals, according to CNN.
This story was originally published March 31, 2020 at 10:04 AM.