Almost empty House approves federal workforce bills

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/almost-empty-house-approves-federal-workforce-bills/2012/10/01/b176d532-0bf4-11e2-bb5e-492c0d30bff6_story.html

The House chamber was almost empty Friday morning when the acting speaker turned to two pieces of legislation important to the federal workforce.

Both the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act and a measure delaying the online posting of personal financial information of certain federal employees were up for consideration. Both had been controversial in their own way, and both had been the subject of strong lobbying by employee interest groups.

And both bills where approved without so much as a yea or nay. That’s possible with a legislative procedure known as unanimous consent. 

The House was gaveled to order at 11 a.m., according to the House clerk’s office, by Rep. John Abney Culberson (R-Tex.), who was at the speaker’s podium. At 11:05 a.m., Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) asked for unanimous consent to approve the measure delaying implementation of the Stock Act provision. Hearing no objections, Culberson declared the bill passed.