Republican representative from Colorado, Lauren Boebert, had her microphone cut off after being warned five separate times that her speech on the House floor Friday had exceeded the allotted time.
Boebert was railing against the Inflation Reduction Act — which was ultimately passed in the House 220-207 and in the Senate 51-50 without any Republican votes — when she ignored repeated updates from the chair that her time on the floor had expired.
“Insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result,” Boebert said in her speech. “That makes the supporters of this legislation, by definition, insane. Reckless spending in this town is what causes inflation. You are sacrificing American families at the altar of climate change.”
The chair noted that “The gentlewoman’s time has expired,” and ultimately repeated themselves a total of five times, including banging the gavel in an attempt to get Boebert’s attention. But the Colorado representative persisted despite the procedural warnings. When her microphone was shut off, she continued by shouting her speech.
Boebert claimed the legislation “does the exact opposite of what American need right now” and labeled it as “just another con game by the Democrats.”
Although she was even provided another 30 seconds by a fellow GOP member, she once again ran over her allotted time. Boebert finally stood down after the chair said, “The gentlewoman’s time has expired. The gentlewoman is no longer recognized.”
The Inflation Reduction Act — which covers health care, climate and taxes — outlines a 10-year, $375 billion strategy to develop clean energy sources and provide tax incentives aimed at promoting the use of electric cars and solar energy. Republicans have criticized the bill for its proposed spending, which could amount to a total of nearly $740 billion.
Following the Senate’s approval of the bill, President Joe Biden said: “Today, Senate Democrats sided with American families over special interests, voting to lower the cost of prescription drugs, health insurance, and everyday energy costs and reduce the deficit, while making the wealthiest corporations finally pay their fair share. I ran for President promising to make government work for working families again, and that is what this bill does, period.”
