One of the most vocal critics inside the House Republican Conference broke his streak of never missing a single vote in the House Friday after blasting House Speaker Paul Ryan and the Republican health care bill.
Rep. Justin Amash apologized to his followers on Twitter after missing his first vote in 4,293 while talking to a group of reporters outside the House chamber Friday.
“#MI03, I’m sorry,” Amash tweeted.
Amash, who has dubbed the House Republican health care plan “Obamacare 2.0,” was criticizing House Republican leaders for tightly controlling the crafting of the Obamacare replacement during an extended discussion with reporters.
At one point Amash, a House Freedom Caucus Member who was instrumental in former House Speaker John Boehner’s departure in 2015, implied he wished he had Boehner back instead of Ryan.
“At the end of the day, the people at home are seeing this is run in a top-down fashion, that you have a few people who tell everyone this is what we’re going to do and that’s it. And … the place may have been more open under Speaker Boehner, sadly,” he said.
A few minutes later, Amash missed an amendment vote on H.R. 720, a legal reform bill.
Rep. Steve Womack — an Arkansas Republican probably best known for formally adopting the rules at the Republican Convention last year that cleared a path for President Donald Trump’s nomination — quickly boasted about overtaking Amash as holding the perfect voting record in the House — now at 4,298 and counting.
“I am humbled by the opportunity to serve my constituents and thank God that no personal hardships have kept me from representing them on a single vote since taking office,” Womack said in a statement Friday shortly after Amash’s missed vote.
