House Freedom Caucus member slows floor business

Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.), a member of the House Freedom Caucus who lost a primary last month to a GOP establishment-backed challenger, sought to gum up House proceedings on Tuesday.

The House typically considers a slate of noncontroversial bills under a fast-track procedure known as suspension of the rules on its first day back of the week back in session. Most pass by voice vote with no opposition.

But on Tuesday, Huelskamp parked himself in a seat near the back of the House chamber and demanded roll call votes on eight consecutive bills. A total of 34 measures are on the schedule.

{mosads}Huelskamp eventually allowed voice votes to proceed when the House began considering several bills to rename post offices. But he resumed requesting roll call votes about an hour later, and it’s unclear how many more he’ll demand.

The first House votes of the week usually only involve two or three roll call votes, allowing most lawmakers and staff to wrap up around 7 p.m.

Huelskamp was concerned that GOP leaders had announced such a large quantity of bills to be considered this week only last Friday evening, according to his spokesman.

The House frequently considers more bills in anticipation of adjourning for a recess. Both the House and Senate are expected to go into a nearly two-month recess until after Election Day once lawmakers pass a stopgap government spending bill in the coming days.

“Americans deserve better than for Congressional leaders to decide late on a Friday to suddenly place 49 bills on the calendar. With no clear, public criteria for selection of these bills from among thousands of others, Americans at least deserve the transparency of knowing how their Member of Congress votes on these bills,” Huelskamp spokesman Jon Meadows said.

Fellow Freedom Caucus member Rep. Justin Amash later joined Huelskamp on the House floor. 

The Michigan Republican praised Huelskamp on Twitter for requesting votes on bills that leaders had envisioned getting approval without roll calls.

“Thx to @CongHuelskamp for remaining on House floor to request yeas/nays on bills that congressional leaders had hoped to pass w/o roll call,” Amash tweeted.

Thx to @CongHuelskamp for remaining on House floor to request yeas/nays on bills that congressional leaders had hoped to pass w/o roll call.

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) September 20, 2016

He later detailed his progress grabbing a donut before arriving on the House floor.

Now that he’s lost his primary, Huelskamp, who was already a frequent thorn in GOP leaders’ side, has little to lose personally by inconveniencing his colleagues.

Last week, he threatened to force a vote on a privileged resolution to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen despite a handshake agreement between Freedom Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) to postpone it.

Koskinen is slated to testify before the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning to discuss the articles of impeachment leveled against him.

—Last updated at 6:26 p.m.