Democratic New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman, who pulled a fire alarm at the Capitol ahead of a House vote on a short-term government funding bill Saturday, warned on multiple occasions this week that a shutdown would put lives at risk.
Bowman pulled the fire alarm inside a House office building Saturday as Congress was preparing to vote on a 45-day spending bill to prevent a government shutdown, his spokesperson confirmed. Yet throughout the week, Bowman blamed Republicans for causing a “catastrophic shutdown” that would put “lifesaving programs” in jeopardy.
“Republican math is causing a catastrophic shutdown that will force millions of working people to go without pay or lifesaving benefits and calling it ‘fiscal responsibility,’” he tweeted Friday.
Bowman similarly accused Republicans on Thursday of trying to shut down the government to “push cruel, draconian spending cuts to lifesaving programs.”
“New York has over 400,000 WIC recipients,” he tweeted Wednesday. “If Republicans continue to hold funding hostage for lifesaving programs and shut down the government, this vital nutrition assistance for people in NY and over 7 million more across the country will be at risk.”
“Congressman Bowman did not realize he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote,” Bowman’s spokesperson Emma Simon said, according to Axios reporter Andrew Solender. “The Congressman regrets any confusion.” Bowman claimed he thought the alarm “would open the door,” according to Axois reporter Juliegrace Brufke.
It is illegal under District of Columbia for an individual to “wilfully or knowingly give a false alarm of fire.” “In D.C., this would constitute a criminal misdemeanor,” George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley wrote Saturday. “It would also obviously be treated as sanctionable conduct under the House rules.”
Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis already drafted a resolution to expel Bowman from the House. “”This is the United States Congress, not a New York City high school,” Malliotakis’ office tweeted. “To pull the fire alarm to disrupt proceedings when we are trying to draft legislation to AVERT A SHUTDOWN is pathetic…even for members of the socialist squad.”
Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene also accused Bowman of interrupting official proceedings. “Democrat Rep. Jamaal Bowman pulled the fire alarm in the Cannon building this afternoon and interrupted the official proceedings of the House as Republicans worked to keep the government open,” she said. “I’m calling on the DOJ to prosecute him using the same law they used to prosecute J6 defendants for interfering with an official proceeding.”
The House passed the short-term funding bill, which includes disaster relief requested by the White House but no aid for Ukraine, in a 335-91 vote. Only one Democrat opposed the bill, along with 90 Republicans.
Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy told reporters during a press conference following the vote that pulling the fire alarm was “a new low.” “I was really appalled watching Democrats’ actions today, to delay it to get to a shutdown,” McCarthy said. “But when we found that an individual elected to Congress would pull a fire alarm, that’s a new low. We’ve watched how people have been treated if they’ve done something wrong in this Capitol. It will be interesting to see how he is treated on what he was trying to obstruct when it came to the American public. “
Bowman did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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