Arkansas Business

Here's video of U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., adjourning the U.S. House on Tuesday night, ignoring calls for a vote on a promised Hurricane Sandy aid package.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor had given the go-ahead for vote on the $27 billion measure, with the thinking that a vote later, under a new Congress, would take longer and require a new bill going through the House and Senate.

But the House leadership apparently changed its mind. Naturally, representatives from northeastern states affected by the storm are not happy:

“I am stunned, stunned,” Rep. Rob Andrews (D-N.J.) told POLITICO. “I assume there is a tactical consideration here, that the Republican leadership didn’t want to be anywhere near a big spending bill after the fiasco of their handling the tax debate. I understand the tactics but there is a real human need here that is being ignored."

So what happens now? House Speaker John Boehner is pledging to get a package approved in the new Congress by the end of the month.