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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) slammed the $2.3 trillion coronavirus relief and government spending bill just hours before she turned around and voted in favor of it.
Posting to Twitter on Monday, AOC complained that Congress was expected to vote on the bill, the second largest spending bill in US history, without having read it.
“It’s not good enough to hear about what’s in the bill,” she wrote. “Members of Congress need to see & read the bills we are expected to vote on. I know it’s ‘controversial’ & I get in trouble for sharing things like this, but the people of this country deserve to know. They deserve better.”
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) agreed with Ocasio-Cortez’s comments about the bill, saying, “AOC is right. It’s ABSURD to have a $2.5 trillion spending bill negotiated in secret and then—hours later—demand an up-or-down vote on a bill nobody has had time to read.”
Fox 66 News anchor Dave Bondy noted Congress members would have to have read 9.8 pages-per-minute if they wanted to read the bill in full.
Responding to an article claiming the stimulus bill “would make illegal streaming a felony,” AOC said, “This is why Congress needs time to actually read this package before voting on it. Members of Congress have not read this bill. It’s over 5000 pages, arrived at 2pm today, and we are told to expect a vote on it in 2 hours.”
“This isn’t governance. It’s hostage-taking,” she emphatically stated.
The New York congresswoman continued, “And by the way, it’s not just members who need to see the bill ahead of time – YOU do. The PUBLIC needs to see these bills w enough time to contact their rep to let them know how they feel. Members are reeling right now bc they don’t have time to consult w/ their communities.”
Nearly every critique Ocasio-Cortez made was correct, but when it came time to vote, she joined 358 other house members in passing the bill.
In the end, the bill passed the House 359-53 and the Senate 92-6.