Facing Flight Disruptions, Lawmakers Hit the Road

With a House vote on President Trump's sweeping tax and policy bill expected as soon as Wednesday, lawmakers were racing back to Washington Tuesday night as thunderstorms hampered air traffic in the capital. More than 200 flights into Reagan National Airport were either canceled or delayed, Politico reports, citing flight-tracking service FlightAware. Dulles International Airport and Baltimore-Washington International also saw cancelations and delays, per the Washington Examiner. Some House members had no other choice but "to set off on hourslong drives," the New York Times reports.

GOP Rep. Nancy Mace embarked on an 8-hour drive from South Carolina with her staff after her flight was canceled. "I didn't want to take any chances," she said on a livestream, which showed her sporting pink pajamas in a van. She took the opportunity to ask viewers for song requests and food recommendations en route. "No sleep, no problem," she wrote on X following her arrival in Washington on Wednesday. Rep. Russell Fry, a fellow South Carolina Republican, also set out for a long drive, saying "the moment is too important to sit around and wait at an airport." If all members are present, Republican leadership can afford only three defections in their effort to pass the bill, which has drawn criticism from both sides.

Waylaid Democrats were eager to get to Washington, too, with Rep. Chris Deluzio carpooling with Rep. Derek Tran, who'd been stranded at an airport in Pittsburgh, per the Times. "We need to stop this big, ugly Republican bill," Tran said in a video. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi hosted a virtual town hall as he embarked on what he said was a 14-hour drive from suburban Chicago, per Politico. House Speaker Mike Johnson acknowledged the travel disruptions late Tuesday in a Fox News interview, saying he hoped voting on the bill would commence Wednesday "or Thursday at [the] latest."