GOP lawmaker shreds Democratic resolution on House floor

A Republican lawmaker on Thursday expressed his disgust with a Democratic resolution by ripping it in half on the House floor.

As the House was debating a resolution expressing disapproval with a new Trump administration Medicaid guidance, Rep. Paul Mitchell (R-Mich.) indicated he was fed up with non-binding resolutions.

Mitchell said the resolution “has less impact, less importance than the tissue in the cloakroom has.”

By ripping the resolution, Mitchell referenced Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) viral moment from the State of the Union address on Tuesday, when she shredded her copy of President Trump’s speech.

“I watched with great interest last evening the debate over expressing one’s opinion and First Amendment rights in the body,” Mitchell said, before ripping the document in half, throwing it to the floor and walking away. 

Did Speaker Pelosi start at trend?

Here’s @RepPaulMitchell ripping/tearing/shredding a resolution on the House floor. pic.twitter.com/Wd5huMLpDS

— Jeremy Art (@cspanJeremy) February 6, 2020

The House will vote Thursday on a non-binding resolution to disagree with the Trump administration’s plan to let states apply for a waiver to convert part of their Medicaid funding into block grants. 

Republicans object to the resolution, which they said is little more than a press release. They argue Democrats are focused on scoring political points and are not interested in having a serious debate about the policy.