Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) literally put it on the House floor this week when she told one Republican about their “racist” bills.
It all went down on Thursday, July 27, after GOP lawmakers passed the first of 12 annual appropriations bills, The Hill reports. Bush was addressing House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), who had just approved legislation to fund military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies.
“Your bills are racist,” she shouted out before being met with boos from Republicans.
Once a video of the exchange made its way online, Bush retweeted the clip and doubled down on her remarks.
“I said what I said,” she tweeted along with the shrug emoji.
Bush shouted over Scalise, who scolded Democrats for not supporting the GOPs’ appropriation measures.
“We could stay here and watch you vote against every single other appropriations bill,” he said.
“We’re going to continue negotiations during the August recess to make sure we get back to funding the priorities of the nation.”
Following Bush’s outburst, Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass, made a statement of her own to fellow lawmakers, as captured
by USA Today.“We hope that you will say no to extremism, to hatred, to bigotry, that is put into these appropriations bills, and say yes to solutions and fairness for the American people,” she said.
The Milcon-VA bill was passed in a 219-211 vote Thursday, with every Democrat and two Republicans voting against the measure. Congress is working to pass legislation to fund the government before the monthlong recess in August. Bills must be implemented by Sept. 30 or risk a government shutdown.
But it’s been challenging for much of The House legislation to get passed in a Democratic-controlled Senate. Democrats are combatting controversial provisions Republicans added to spending bills that would restrict abortion access, diversity and inclusion policies, and more.