Politics

Climate Change Bill Passes House

By Sunlight Foundation & Participatory Politics Foundation

Update, 7:30 pm ET, Friday June 26th: “The House of Representatives passed a sweeping climate-change bill Friday ? a major victory for President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi… the vote was extremely close ? 219-212, with eight Republicans voting yes and 44 Democrats voting no.” — Politico.

For now, you can see the vote results on the House Clerks’s site: Roll Call, plus some “snap analysis” from Reuters (via the environmental site Grist). Full detailed & interactive roll call information will be available on the OpenCongress H.R. 2998 bill page tomorrow at the latest, after the Library of Congress updates the bill’s status on their end.

Earlier, as of 6:30 pm ET: Wild. Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) has kicked off a filibuster-esque maneuver to delay a vote on H.R. 2998, previously numbered H.R. 2454, the major Climate Change bill that was being pushed by House Democrats today. Here are a few first-take resources on what’s happening this evening ::

• “House Minority Leader John Boehner slowed Democrats? attempt to pass a sweeping climate-change legislation Friday evening, reading page-by-page through a 300-page Democratic amendment before allowing a roll call vote.” (Politico)
  

• “This new development comes after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) spent the day furiously whipping her colleagues to round up the votes she needs to pass her signature cap-and-trade measure.” (The Hill)
  

• “Boehner?s move came as the House moved close to a showdown vote on the bill. Congressional officials said Capitol telephone systems were near capacity because of calls coming in on the climate bill… With the outcome still in doubt, leaders sought out undecided members to win their votes in favor of the bill (HR 2454). The final tally is likely to be close ? only a handful of Republicans were expected to support the bill, and vulnerable Democrats were still weighing their options.” (CQPolitics)
  

• “Republicans contend that no one in the House has read text of the amendment, which includes a deal worked out between Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and a slew of other changes worked out in recent days to build support for the bill.” (RollCall)
  

• OpenCongress Blog previous coverage, plus Rep. Boehner’s anti-cap-and-trade chart highlighted on TPM-DC.
  

… more analysis to come, especially of the bill’s next steps & potential hurdles in the Senate, here on the OpenCongress Blog.
Questions, comments? Send us an email: writeus@opencongress.org, or post in the bill’s recent comments forum. (Photo of Rep. Boehner above via OpenCongress news coverage source Daylife.).

Full post as published by Open Congress on June 27, 2009 (boomark / email).