Congressional staffers are bracing themselves for a marathon workweek, as the House debates a plan to fund the government through the next fiscal year. Republican leadership is using an “open rule” process that allows any of the 433 House members to submit, within certain boundaries, as many amendments as they want.
“It’s going to be a shit storm,” one senior House GOP aide told The Daily Caller.
More than 400 amendments were filed as of Monday night, and more are on the way.
For the new House Republican leadership, the decision is in part to fulfill a campaign promise for increased openness in government and inclusion of ideas for the minority party. But with the amendments pouring in — more than 260 of them from Republicans alone — the process could prove to be an early challenge for Republicans who have been in the majority for just more than a month.
To be on the safe side, the majority leadership team has reserved the right to stop the flow at any time. They have promised that the House will wrap up its business by 3:00 p.m. Thursday, which can only mean two long nights of work for members and their staffs. House Speaker John Boehner has repeatedly said that he made the decision so the body can “work its will.”
Watching from the sidelines, Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, who was majority leader for four years under then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said he had his doubts about the process.
“They’re not sure this process is going to work for them,” he said with a smirk during his weekly briefing with reporters on Tuesday. “I’m interested in seeing this process play out. I’ve been there, done that.”
Hoyer, who said he’s enjoying the luxury of deferring tough questions on the House schedule to the new majority majority leader, said he was skeptical Republicans could pull it off.
“On all of the amendment’s filed, 260 by Republicans. That’s 2,000 minutes,” he said. “That does not get you out at 3 o’clock on Thursday.”
Jonathan Strong and Caitlin Emma contributed to this report.