1 Republican was enough to block this bipartisan disaster aid bill for the 3rd time

(Image credit: Hector Retamal / AFP / Getty Images)

published 30 May 2019

A seemingly bipartisan disaster aid bill has just stalled out in Congress for the third time.

The Senate overwhelmingly passed a $19.1 billion bill last week, even getting support from President Trump. Yet just one voice in the House has caused the bill to crash and burn, given that Congress is still on Memorial Day recess and would need unanimous support to pass the bill before it reconvenes. Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.) said he wanted more debate over the bill before approving it, and asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to call the House back early to get it done.

The disaster aid bill has already failed twice in the past week, first with Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) complaining that it didn't include emergency spending to build Trump's border wall, and then with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) saying the same on Tuesday. Trump himself, though, told Senate Republicans that he'd let the bill pass without $4.5 billion in wall funding after it had languished in Congress for months over his demand.

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The compromise bill okayed $900 million in aid for Puerto Rico after its disastrous September 2017 hurricane. It also extends $3.25 billion to repair flood and hurricane damage throughout the country, $3.17 billion to rebuild military bases, and $3.005 billion for farmers suffering crop and livestock losses, among other packages. There's still a chance it could pass once Congress returns on Monday.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.

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