Nancy Pelosi Could Recess House Until July 21

The House Democrats’ rule providing for the consideration of their $3 trillion, 1,815-page phase four coronavirus bill would allow House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to recess the House until July 21.

As the House will likely consider Pelosi’s coronavirus bill, the Heroes Act, House Democrats snuck a provision into today’s rule that would allow the House journal to be considered approved from May 19 through July 21. The rule reads:

Section 4 of the rule provides that on any legislative day during the period from May 19, 2020, through July 21, 2020: the Journal of the proceedings of the previous day shall be considered as approved; and the Chair may at any time declare the House adjourned to meet at a date and time to be announced by the Chair in declaring the adjournment.

Politico explained that the Heroes bill serves as more of a wish list for the House progressives, writing:

Privately, several House Democrats concede their latest bill feels like little more than an effort to appease the most liberal members of the caucus, many of whom were chafed that their most important priorities were minimized or ignored entirely in previous coronavirus negotiations.

The bill also contains many leftist provisions, such as:

• Mandatory early voting for every state and mandatory mail-in ballots for every state. Nate Madden, a press secretary for the House Oversight Committee Republicans, said it would be a “nightmare scenario for voter fraud.”
• Allows wealthy people who make money from dividends and royalties to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit, which is designed for lower-income Americans.
• Extends assistance designed for nonprofits to political action groups and chamber of commerce-style associations. Open Markets Institute fellow Matt Stoller called it a “corporate lobbyist bailout.”

Pelosi’s Heroes Act represents a staggering amount of spending.

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) noted that the bill has “70 appropriations in excess of a billion dollars each.”

Norman asked rhetorically, “When you walk out of secret negotiations with an 1800 page, $3 trillion bill that thas no chance of becoming law, why is that portrayed as an accomplishment?”