Southwest Montana News

Today, Congressman Matt Rosendale (MT-02) voted against H.R. 8772 - Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2025. The bill failed to pass the House of Representatives.

The legislation would have increased spending and did not include a proposed amendment to prohibit books in school libraries that contain pornographic material or espouse radical gender ideology. Additionally, it excluded Rep. Rosendale’s amendment that aimed to stop Capitol Police from subverting the law, which has left staffers unable to protect themselves with a firearm.

Furthermore, the process by which this bill was brought forward disregarded the rules of the House. Of the 44 amendments submitted to the bill, only four were allowed to be openly debated on the House floor while the other 40 were rejected by the Committee on Rules.

“In one of the country’s most dangerous cities, that had 274 homicides last year, it is negligent that Capitol security protocol forces congressional staff to walk the streets unarmed,” said Rep. Rosendale. “The failure to fix that issue, along with countless others that my Republican colleagues attempted to solve by making amendments to this legislation, led to this bill’s failure. The legislative process exists for a reason; if you don’t allow participation, you can’t expect positive results.”