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With House members scrambling to come to an agreement after the spending bill disasters, some are seeing the exercise as one that will help improve future endeavors.
Lawmakers rejected a short-term spending bill on Thursday night after an earlier behemoth continuing resolution was duly ditched amid an uproar. Amid the messy process and the heated negotiations, some substantive ideas have emerged from lawmakers that may pave the way for improvements.
“This isn’t complicated,” Rep. Thomas Massie wrote on X Thursday evening, proposing the idea that Utah Sen. Mike Lee found “Revolutionary!”
Separate the bills
Vote on them individually
Revolutionary! https://t.co/jrENNCOQGk
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) December 20, 2024
“Separate the bills and vote on them individually,” the Kentucky Republican continued, “one vote on the clean CR, one vote on the debt limit, one vote on disaster relief, one vote on farm bailouts.”
“Radical right? Individual bills for each issue,” he added.
This was an idea even Elon Musk, the incoming co-chair of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) reacted to online.
Great idea https://t.co/BiP571S4hn
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2024
Massie reportedly “pitched” the idea to Speaker Mike Johnson and said, “It wasn’t rejected outright.”
Tennessee Republican Rep. Tim Burchett said he suggested the same proposal last week “and it’s still a great idea.”
This is what I proposed last week and it’s still a great idea. https://t.co/Ucs0EhSF8v
— Tim Burchett (@timburchett) December 20, 2024
Burchett also suggested a way to have accountability.
I will be proposing legislation that every amendment will have the name of the sponsor in it. We need to know who to blame.
— Tim Burchett (@timburchett) December 19, 2024
“No more multi-bill ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’” bills, said Rep. Cory Mills in a post on X. “Conservatives all agreed that single point bills through regular order must be returned.”
Single issue spending bills. @CoryMillsFL has it right https://t.co/3w5rkxL8mm
— Tim Burchett (@timburchett) December 20, 2024
Lee also reportedly weighed in on the lack of time lawmakers are given to thoroughly examine a bill before voting.
BREAKING: Senator Mike Lee proposes if the Leaders in the House in the Senate fail to give lawmakers enough time to read a bill before it’s time to vote, they immediately get fired.
I like this idea! pic.twitter.com/ha7MqPBKOR
— Ian Jaeger (@IanJaeger29) December 20, 2024
“Here’s an idea: whenever congressional ‘leaders’ deprive their fellow lawmakers of a meaningful opportunity to read a bill *before* voting on it, we should immediately fire those leaders and elect new ones,” he posted on X.
“This trick has been used far too long. It’s time to bring it to an end,” he added.
It is obviously meaningless to call our country a democracy if the elected leaders are unable to read legislation before voting!! https://t.co/PWcXrs046m
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2024
“It is obviously meaningless to call our country a democracy if the elected leaders are unable to read legislation before voting!!” Musk responded.
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