‘Worthless': Bleary-eyed Lawmakers Steamed as Texan Chip Roy Keeps House in Session Til 4 A.m.

WASHINGTON - Grumpy lawmakers in both parties blasted Texas freshman Rep. Chip Roy on Thursday for keeping the House in session until 4 a.m., demanding roll call votes on scores of amendments as the House considered $1 trillion in federal spending.Some grumbled about losing sleep, others about missing baseball practice. Few defended the Austin Republican, who was trying to make a point about red ink and the need to spend more on border security.Many accused Roy of a political stunt and accused him of grandstanding."There is the normal legislative process where you carry your points and if you don't have the votes, you don't win that round. That's the way it's supposed to work around here," said another Texas freshman, Rep. Colin Allred, a Dallas Democrat. "It's not just, you gum up the works and make things hard."Rep. Bill Flores, a Bryan Republican who once led a major conservative bloc in the House, wasn't happy about the sleep lost to Roy's gambit. He got home around 1 a.m."I think it's worthless. I think he's wasting everybody's time and it's keeping us from doing more important things, not that this House is getting a lot done," Flores said. "But I don't see any positive outcome to Mr. Roy's strategy."Said Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., "What I am really pissed off about is that as a result of Chip Roy's procedural antics, [Democrats] had to cancel our 7 a.m. baseball practice this morning."  Continue reading...