{"id":142350,"date":"2023-09-30T23:07:03","date_gmt":"2023-09-30T23:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/?p=142350"},"modified":"2023-09-30T23:07:03","modified_gmt":"2023-09-30T23:07:03","slug":"convenient-false-fire-alarm-at-capitol-as-democrats-were-trying-to-delay-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/world-news\/convenient-false-fire-alarm-at-capitol-as-democrats-were-trying-to-delay-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"Convenient false fire alarm at Capitol as Democrats were trying to delay vote"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Washington:<\/strong> Democrat Jamaal Bowman acknowledged triggering a fire alarm in one of the US Capitol office buildings as lawmakers scrambled to pass a bill to fund the government before the midnight shutdown deadline.<\/p>\n The fire alarm sounded out about noon on Saturday (Sunday morning AEST) in the Cannon House Office Building and prompted a building-wide evacuation at a time when the House was in session and staffers were working in the building. The building was reopened an hour later after Capitol Police determined it was not a threat.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n New York Democrat Jamaal Bowman mistakenly set the fire alarm off.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>AP<\/cite><\/p>\n The GOP-controlled House Administration Committee, which oversees issues pertaining to the Capitol complex, posted a picture of a person pulling the fire alarm who appeared to be Bowman.<\/p>\n The New York lawmaker admitted hours later that it was a mistake and that he was rushing to get to votes and was trying to get through a door that is usually open, but was closed due to it being a weekend.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought it would help me open the door,\u201d he said about pulling the trigger, denying that it was an effort to stall anything.<\/p>\n Capitol Police said in a statement that an \u201cinvestigation into what happened and why continues\u201d.<\/p>\n At the time of the evacuation House Democrats were working to delay a vote on a 45-day funding bill to keep federal agencies open. They said they needed time to review the 71-page bill that Republicans abruptly released to avoid a shutdown.<\/p>\n The funding package was ultimately approved 335-91 on Saturday afternoon (US time), with most Republicans and almost all Democrats \u2013 including Bowman \u2013 supporting the bill.<\/p>\n The rushed package would leave behind aid to Ukraine, a White House priority opposed by a growing number of GOP lawmakers, but increase federal disaster assistance by $16 billion, meeting US President Joe Biden\u2019s full request. The bill would fund government until November 17.<\/p>\n It goes next to the Senate, which was meeting late in the evening, hours to go before the midnight deadline to fund the government.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to do our job,\u201d McCarthy said before the House vote. \u201cWe\u2019re going to be adults in the room. And we\u2019re going to keep government open.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a head-spinning turn of events in Congress after days of House chaos pushed the government to the brink of a disruptive federal shutdown.<\/p>\n With no deal in place before Sunday, federal workers would face furloughs, more than 2 million active-duty and reserve military troops would work without pay and programs and services that Americans rely on from coast to coast would begin to face shutdown disruptions.<\/p>\n After the vote, Republicans, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, criticised Bowman over the fire alarm. Some lawmakers even floated the idea of drafting a motion to expel or censure him from the House.<\/p>\n \u201cThis should not go without punishment,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cThis is an embarrassment.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that he plans to talk with the Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York to figure out a possible response.<\/p>\n But Jeffries met with Bowman shortly after the vote and Bowman said his fellow New York colleague was \u201csupportive\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHe understood that it was a mistake and that\u2019s all it was,\u201d he said. Bowman added that the reaction from McCarthy and other Republicans is dishonest.<\/p>\n \u201c[McCarthy\u2019s] trying to weaponise a mistake of me coming, rushing to get to a vote as something nefarious when it wasn\u2019t,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n AP<\/strong><\/p>\nMost Viewed in World<\/h2>\n
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