House passes $2 trillion coronavirus package — but not without last-minute drama

The House passed a sweeping, $2 trillion coronavirus relief package Friday that will provide immediate assistance to many Americans, small businesses and major industries on the brink of economic collapse amid the ongoing pandemic.

But the House vote wasn’t without some last minute drama, as members from across the country scrambled to return to Washington to block Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) from delaying passage of the bill.

President Donald Trump signed the legislation — the largest rescue package in U.S. history — later Friday.

The eleventh-hour drama in the House comes after days of frenzied negotiations among Senate leaders to secure a deal and an intense behind-the-scenes lobbying effort by House leaders to ensure none of their members tried to delay the bill.

“People will die today as a result of this virus,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said in closing remarks just before the vote. “And we have come together as Democrats and Republicans from every region of this country to respond in a way that is sufficient to this challenge.”

The massive rescue package ultimately passed by voice vote, but not before an extraordinary scene played out in the House chamber.

In a series of tweets late Friday morning, Massie confirmed plans to demand a recorded vote, meaning members would physically have to come to the chamber to have their vote recorded. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) tried to talk Massie out of it on the House floor, to no avail.

After it became clear Massie wouldn't relent, leadership started taking steps to block his move. In a plan devised by Hoyer the night before, lawmakers were brought into the chamber, including in the public galleries above the floor to allow them to distance themselves for safety. By having a quorum of members in the chamber — at least 216 lawmakers, including in the public galleries — they could block Massie's request for a recorded vote and pass the proposal by voice vote.

At 1 p.m. Pelosi took the floor to essentially stall for time as both parties' whip teams could corral enough members on the floor. At one point, Pelosi urged her members to move even more quickly: "Come on, my colleagues, to the gallery!"

The plan worked — Massie was quickly overruled and the bill passed without members having to take a recorded vote. But lawmakers in both parties were still irate that they had to be present at all, endangering themselves and the dozens of congressional and Capitol support staff on hand, all because of Massie's singular objection.

President Donald Trump lambasted Massie in a series of tweets Friday, calling him a “third rate grandstander” and suggesting Republican leaders boot him out of the party.

“He just wants the publicity. He can’t stop it, only delay, which is both dangerous & costly,” Trump tweeted.

The package ultimately won support from the majority of members from both parties. In a sign of the gravity of the situation, Pelosi and McCarthy delivered a rare joint bill signing after the vote, thanking each other for the bipartisan work — just days after bickering between the parties nearly tanked a deal in the Senate.

“We are all a family, and like many families, we have our differences, but we also know what is important to us,” Pelosi said, standing beside McCarthy and Hoyer, noting that the bill passed “practically unanimously.”

“We will get through this together,” McCarthy said, ticking off provisions to support small businesses and their workers.

The bill aims to prop up virtually every sector of the U.S. economy in response to a pandemic that has shuttered businesses, fueled massive layoffs and disrupted nearly every aspect of American life.

The measure provides a significant — albeit temporary — expansion of unemployment benefits, a one-time cash infusion for most Americans, and emergency federal funding for food aid, hospitals and schools and universities. The package also provides a $500 billion lifeline to major industries including airlines, $350 billion for small business loans and $150 billion for state and local governments.

“This is a 9/11 moment,” Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) said on the floor. “A time to put partisan differences aside, policy differences aside, and work together as Americans.”

Emotions ran high as lawmakers took to the floor throughout the roughly four-hour debate. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) — who made the nearly nine-hour drive to D.C. overnight — refused to stop speaking after she went over her time limit, shouting into the chamber even as Hoyer tried to allow her to extend her remarks.

"I rise before you wearing these latex gloves, not for personal attention, not for personal attention, but to encourage you to take this disease seriously,” Stevens said, holding up her hands to show the gloves. Her home state of Michigan is among the five states with the highest number of cases, and a vast majority are in two counties that Stevens represents.

Some members are battling the virus personally. Minutes after the vote, Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.) said he tested positive, almost exactly two weeks after he was in contact with another member, Rep. Ben McAdams, who is currently hospitalized due to complications from the illness. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) also announced on Friday that he tested positive for coronavirus, and added that he wasn’t in D.C. during the relief bill vote.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) is also fighting the virus, as is Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

Members initially thought they would have until Saturday to arrange travel back to D.C. if a Republican did, indeed, demand a tally of the vote. But that plan was scrambled Thursday afternoon, when Pelosi announced to members on a caucus call that she planned to pass the bill Friday.

Lawmakers of both parties fumed at Massie as they sought last-minute flights, grudgingly making plans to return to the Capitol even as they feared it could increase the risk of spreading the coronavirus among their own ranks. Others drove overnight from states like Massachusetts, Indiana and Rhode Island.

In the days leading up to the vote, Pelosi and McCarthy had strongly urged members in conference calls and in individual conversations not to object to the voice vote, which they said would still allow for a debate and a chance to vote in opposition without forcing hundreds of people on planes.

But worried that Massie or another lawmaker would try to force a roll call vote, they started to prepare contingency plans. Both parties’ whip operations kept a careful count of who was able to return to Washington, and whether they could reach a quorum on the floor.

Over the past week, several Democrats had urged their leadership to allow remote voting. Pelosi has firmly opposed the idea, however, and has said lawmakers who — after consulting with their family and doctor — are able to return to the Capitol to vote should do so.

The voting process on Friday was vastly different from the normal House procedure. The sergeant-at-arms and the Capitol physician announced strict rules to keep members at least six feet apart at all times.

Lawmakers were required to use hand sanitizer before and after leaving the chamber. And only members who were scheduled to speak were allowed to sit in the chamber. Even on their way to votes, lawmakers were asked to ride with no more than one other person in an elevator.

Rep. Max Rose (D-N.Y.), whose Staten Island district has seen an exponential increase in the number of cases in the past week, grew emotional on the floor as he talked about people in his community dying from the virus.

“This is just the beginning. More work will need to be done,” Rose said. “New York needs more help. But we’re Americans, and we can get the job done.”

Melanie Zanona contributed to this report.