Lol I remember when Hasan Minhaj pointed out how lame the congress hearing hot seat actually was because the hall itself was mostly empty, with lawmakers showing up for like 15 minutes to ask some questions before they left.

They specifically never do a wide shot that would otherwise show that Congress doesn't care enough to actually host a serious session with a significant portion of members present.

The Onion has also made several satirical articles about this already as well. Congress magically failing to pass a measure or law because of some externally convenient reason is nothing new.

I would even bet cash money that Dem leadership asked Johnson to speedrun the vote so they have a fake reason to walk to the media with instead of a noshow or a vote for hegseth.