WASHINGTON — A House Republican lawmaker blocked a $19.1 billion disaster aid package on Friday, delaying a bill that would send federal funding to disaster-affected areas across the country.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, voted to block the legislation, which has the support of President Donald Trump and passed the Senate on Thursday.
Roy said he was objecting to the bill because it would add to the country’s debt, as well as because it left out $4.4 billion in additional spending for federal operations along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The White House had initially pushed lawmakers to include the new funding in the disaster bill, but the funds were left out of a Senate compromised reached this week to move the aid package forward. Roy described the $4.4 billion as “quite modest,” and he said that without it, the legislation did “nothing to address the clear national emergency and humanitarian crisis we face at our southern border.”
Only one vote was needed to defeat the motion because House leaders were attempting to pass the measure by unanimous consent. Most House lawmakers left town on Thursday before Senate negotiators announced they’d reached a disaster aid deal, making a full vote impossible without recalling lawmakers.
Following Roy’s objection, the House ended its session. The House is set to have another “pro forma” session — one with few lawmakers present — on Tuesday, at which time they plan to again try to pass the legislation by unanimous consent.
“We’ll see,” Roy said when asked whether he would object again. “I have not decided what I’m going to do next week, but I also have a job to do back in Texas.”
The disaster-aid bill has been pending since last year, and the slow pace of talks has frustrated lawmakers of both parties.