From carpools to motorcycles, House lawmakers overcome air travel chaos to end shutdown
The longest government shutdown in history finally ended on Wednesday night after nearly every member of the House of Representatives raced to Washington to cast their vote.The threat of air...
By Fox News · Fox News
The longest government shutdown in history finally ended on Wednesday night after nearly every member of the House of Representatives raced to Washington to cast their vote. The threat of air travel delays — fueled in no small part by the fiscal standoff — as well as bad weather in parts of the country forced some lawmakers to find more unconventional routes to ensure they arrived on time. First-term Rep. Addison McDowell, R-N.C., for example, found himself carpooling more than five hours alongside House Rules Committee chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C. — a powerful GOP lawmaker more than 50 years his senior. "It dawned on me that, for a while there, I was one of the most powerful people in America, because I had the Rules chair, who — we couldn't start the process of passing this bill until she got here," McDowell told Fox News Digital. "We had a one-seat majority, and there was two of us. So, you know, there was a lot of pressure to make sure she got here on time." TRUMP SIGNS BILL ENDING LONGEST GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IN US HISTORY Foxx's committee was responsible for preparing federal funding legislation for a House-wide vote, which it did from just before 7 p.m. Tuesday until around 2 a.m. Wednesday. "She just kind of asked, ‘Hey, would you be willing to carpool?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, not a problem at all.’ I've got a truck, so I've got plenty of room. We could have taken the whole delegation up, just put all the guys in the back," McDowell joked. He also knew that driving Foxx up earlier than most lawmakers had to be there came with sacrifices. "Neither of us got to participate in any Veterans Day events in our district, which was a real bummer. But we had an important job to do, and that was make sure our government services and our current troops are getting paid," he said. McDowell said he spent the roughly five-and-a-half-hour drive asking Foxx questions about her work and her own life, which she happily answered. And the senior House Republican told Fox Ne…