'Mr. Moore...Mr. Moore?': Lawmakers caught sleeping during committee meetings
Congressman woken up to vote during all-night House session
Utah Rep. Blake Moore was shaken awake to cast his vote on an amendment during an all-night Ways and Means Committee hearing on Wednesday, May 14. (Credit: C-SPAN via Storyful)
WASHINGTON - Seems like even the country's lawmakers know that politics can be a bit of a snoozefest as a few had to be woken up during committee sessions.
Utah lawmaker shaken awake after falling asleep during vote
The backstory:
On Wednesday, Representative Blake Moore of Utah had to be shaken awake, by Minnesota Rep. Michelle Fischbach, to cast his vote on an amendment during an all-night Ways and Means Committee hearing.
The meeting started around 2:30 p.m. local time and continued on through the night. The meeting focused on discussing and voting on amendments to a Republican reconciliation bill.
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Footage showed Moore sound asleep in his chair as he was called on to vote on an amendment around 5 a.m. Wednesday local time
Lawmakers seem to doze off during marathon budget committee markup
Two lawmakers were seen appearing to fall asleep during a marathon, over 20-hour US House Committee on Energy and Commerce markup meeting. (Credit: House Committee on Energy and Commerce via Storyful)
More lawmakers fall asleep during meetings
Two other lawmakers also fell asleep during a marathon U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce markup meeting that lasted for more than 20 hours.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, 80, of Illinois, and Rep. Debbie Dingell, 71, of Michigan, each appeared to fall asleep at different points during the meeting that was held to discuss and vote on amendments to the budget bill.
What they're saying:
Dingell commented on the situation in a post on X, saying: "Been up for 31 hours straight fighting Republicans trying to gut Medicaid. Closed my eyes to think about an America where everyone has access to quality, affordable health care."
Schakowsky also posted a comment, saying: "We’re on hour 25 of our marathon markup where my colleagues and I are fighting all day and night to protect health care access for all Americans."
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The Source: Storyful contributed to this report. The information in this story comes from various sources, including footage of Rep. Blake Moore sleeping during a Ways and Means Committee hearing, as well as comments from Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Debbie Dingell shared on X (formerly Twitter). This story was reported from Los Angeles.