Far right Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee has only been in Congress since 2019, so perhaps he should be forgiven for not knowing how things work there.
Congressman Burchett became nationally known for his remarks against gun control back in March, just after a school mass shooting in Nashville, the capital of his home state, where three nine-year olds and three adults were shot to death by a shooter with two AR-15 style assault rifles and a handgun.
“We’re not gonna fix it,” Burchett infamously said. “I don’t see any role that we could do other than mess things up, honestly.”
Rather than even entertain common sense gun reforms, Burchett immediately decided the only thing that will reduce gun violence is God.
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Saying, “you’ve got to change people’s hearts,” Burchett called for a Christian revival. “As a Christian, we talk about the church. I’ve said this many times, I think we really need a revival in this country.”
Also back in March, Congressman Burchett took a similar hands-off, laissez-faire stance on racism. He joined all 26 Republicans on the House Oversight Committee who refused to sign a simple two-sentence statement denouncing white supremacy.
So you might assume that the Tennessee congressman has a “live and let live” approach to things, given he thinks Congress just has no impact on people’s lives, but you’d be wrong.
In December, when it came time to vote on the Respect for Marriage Act, voted against protecting the marriages of same-sex and interracial couples. Seems he did think Congress can play a role in people’s lives.
Fast forward to this week.
Congressman Burchettt is very angry that an amendment he filed did not even get a vote.
“Congressman Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) held a news conference on Thursday with congressional colleagues to announce an upcoming committee hearing and to demand transparency from the federal government over unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), which are more commonly dubbed ‘UFOs,'” WBIR reported Thursday.
Burchett tried but failed to introduce a “late” amendment, and later “said he was told the amendment was shot down by either the House Intelligence Committee or the ‘intelligence community,’ saying he wasn’t totally sure who knocked it down.”
“This is ridiculous, folks. They do exist or they don’t exist. They keep telling us they don’t exist, but they block every opportunity for us to get ahold of the information,” he said.
He also vented his anger on Twitter.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee, stepped in to clear things up for the confused congressman.
“What are you talking about?” McGovern tweeted. “It wasn’t the ‘intelligence community,’ you voted to block YOUR OWN amendment. Are YOU part of the coverup?”
Apparently still confused, Burchett shot back: “Mr. Ranking Member of Rules Committee, perhaps your intern shouldn’t be allowed to run your Twitter account. Find someone who can fact check. This amendment wasn’t even given a vote in Rules. No one had a chance to vote on this amendment. That’s the problem.”
McGovern wasn’t having it.
“The problem is that you submitted an amendment, and then you voted for a Rule that blocked your own amendment. That’s why no one had a chance to vote on it. That’s how this works,” he said, schooling Burchett. “Also, I write my tweets myself.”
Read the tweets above or at this link.