The House Starts the New Session the Old Way — With a Manual Vote By Alan K. Ota, CQ Staff
The House got off to a rocky start Tuesday night, as aides struggled to overcome a power outage that kept the electronic voting system dark during a session-opening quorum call.
Floor aides took nearly an hour to tally voting cards to determine that 393 members were present — far more than the minimum constitutional quorum of 218 — to allow the House to begin business for the year.
“We had to get that quorum call before we could start work. It’s a constitutional requirement,’’ said Rules Chairwoman Louise M. Slaughter, D-N.Y.
“This is truly embarrassing,” said Kevin Smith, a spokesman for Minority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio. “It may be a new year, but we already know that Democrats still haven’t learned how to run the House floor.”
The House then adopted by voice vote a resolution (H Res 913) to appoint a committee of members to inform President Bush that the new session had begun.
All that just for the president, who’s traveling abroad and can’t be informed by committee anyway. “We don’t need to worry about him. He’s not even in the country,” Slaughter joked.