'Strangle him': Mike Johnson calls out colleague who 'fell asleep' and missed vote
House Speaker Mike Johnson claims the margin by which the “big, beautiful bill” passed was actually higher – if Congressman Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) didn’t “fall a sleep” during the vote.
The remarks were made at the tail end of a House Republican press conference after the spending bill passed Thursday morning.
“Is there anything the Senate might be considering changing in this bill that you might not accept,” a reporter asked.
“I’m not going to draw any red lines,” Johnson said. “Look, but I told them there are a lot of different opinions over there as we do over here. They have a small margin as we do. We had a three-vote margin. By the way I just want you to know for the record. We really had 217 votes this morning.”
He went on to say, “Andrew Garbarino did not make it in time. He fell asleep in the back. No kidding, I know.”
“I’m going to just strangle him,” Johnson said jokingly, which gained some laughter from the room. “I’m kidding, he’s my dear friend.”
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Johnson then added, “And then [congressman] David Schweikert (R-AZ) was going to vote and slipped his card in at the last minute. So it looks like a razor-thin margin, 215 to 214, and one present, it was 217. Ok? They are both going to go on record saying that's how they would have voted if they had put their card in in time.”
Johnson then ended the press conference.
Two GOP members voted against the bill, Congressmen Warren Davidson (R-OH) and Thomas Massie (R- KY). Congressman Andy Harris (R-MD) voted “present.”
The passage of the bill marks a huge victory for the House Speaker, who accomplished his goal of passing President Donald Trump’s spending bill before Memorial Day.
You can watch the full press conference below or click the link.
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