1. Say you pass COVID relief on Dec. 22, and you hear not a word of complaint from Trump. Christmas is coming, and all the Members want to go home. But you know a veto of the NDAA is coming, so you tell them to plan to come back on Monday.

2. Suddenly, Trump changes the game with his $2,000 demand. But everyone’s gone for the holiday. What do you do?

Well, it’s now 12/23, but the House is not in session, because everyone went home before Trump objected.

You can’t call a vote, because the House is in recess.

3. You’ve got a pro forma session scheduled for Thursday, though. And everyone is coming back on Monday.

So you can’t vote Wednesday, and you can’t vote Thursday because there are only a handful of Members in town. Friday is Christmas.

So, what can you do?

4. You can, in Thursday’s pro forma session, ask for unanimous consent to pass a bill bumping up the checks from $600 to $2,000. But Republicans could object. You can vote and beat them on Monday, but that’s not until after the holiday.

So, you take a stab at unanimous consent.

5. And in the meantime, schedule that vote for Monday, and call your Members and tell them you need all hands on deck in DC the Monday after Christmas.

You WISH you could have voted on Wednesday, but with no House session... how? You can’t. So, Monday it is.

It’s just a plain fact that the House can only vote when they’re there. Even if people scream at you that they totally want a vote right now!

6 (-ish). Why didn’t the Speaker say RIGHT AWAY, as soon as she proposed making the unanimous consent request, that she would schedule a vote if anyone objected?

Is it a good idea to threaten a vote you can’t deliver on? No, it is not.

7. Why wouldn’t she be able to deliver on that vote?

Because her Members are all at home. You want to talk to them first, and make sure that: 1) they can get back to DC by Monday, and; 2) they are in fact on board with voting for $2,000 checks.

Both probably true. But verify!

So, once you hear from enough Members to know you can put together a majority on Monday, you’re clear to announce the vote.

But people want to hear about action right away. So, you do what you can: set up the unanimous consent request for Thursday, and start making calls.