In May, Chip Roy held $19 billion in disaster aid hostage so he could score some free publicity.
Roy used a procedural rule to block passage of a bipartisan bill designed to help victims of wildfires and storms. He gave different reasons to different media outlets, sometimes saying that he objected to a voice vote for the bill, and sometimes saying he was upset that funding for a border wall hadn’t been included. Chip clearly enjoyed the media attention his stalling maneuver earned for him. But it caused rifts in his own party.
Republican Rep. Austin Scott of Florida called Roy and his assistants “clowns”:
“It’s theater and grandstanding, it’s all it is. It’s not even a principled stand,” Scott said. “They’re not trying to negotiate a resolution. They’re just acting up.”
Texas GOP Rep. Kay Granger called Chip’s actions a “political stunt.”
Sen. David Perdue of Georgia tweeted, “This is yet another example of politicians putting their own self-interest ahead of the national interest. It’s pathetic that some members have chosen this moment to grandstand & get into the national headlines.”
Eventually, the bill was passed, by an overwhelming margin of 354-58. Rep. Roy’s theatrics did nothing but delay much-needed disaster help, and stoke discord, for no good reason.