The snowstorm hitting the East Coast is doing more than disrupting travel for millions of Americans — it's causing Washington politicians to miss votes.
According to
The Hill, the House pushed back legislation to Tuesday and Wednesday because some lawmakers were not able to travel back to Washington from their home states due to canceled flights. The work week was already due to be a short one, as Democrats are going on an annual policy retreat Thursday and Friday.
GOP leaders in the House, for example, moved legislation on human trafficking from Monday to Tuesday, while a bill centered on exporting liquefied natural gas is now on Wednesday's docket, according to The Hill.
In the Senate, however, a motion on whether or not
to end the debate surrounding the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline bill was voted on and came up short, 53-39.
House leaders also decided to postpone debate until February on a
border security bill that was due to be heard Wednesday, the Hill reported. That bill would force the Department of Homeland Security to shore up the country's southern border with Mexico, clearing the way for billions of dollars in funding.
The legislation, introduced by Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul of Texas, is already causing a stir within the Republican Party. Some GOP lawmakers would like to see President Barack Obama's immigration reform stalled by blocking funding for it, instead of seeing McCaul's bill pass.
"Voting for a feeble border bill would just help the Senate leadership strip out the House defund measure," one GOP aide, whose boss is against McCaul's bill, told The Hill. "GOP leaders are therefore having trouble whipping the votes. House members don't want to help leaders across the chamber detract from their defund measure."
Winter storm Juno caused more than 7,700 flights in and out of the Northeast to be canceled, as it is expected to dump up to three feet of snow in some parts of the region.
The Washington, D.C., area only saw a few inches fall Monday, but the canceled flights are causing a ripple effect throughout the system.
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