Only a few House members remained in the chamber late Wednesday night, preparing to vote on dozens of bills that would pass by voice vote. After six hours on the floor, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., stood up and demanded that a quorum is in effect.

It seems like demanding a record of the vote is a small act, but Massie’s defiance against Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., had more profound implications. Massie took a stand against Ryan after House leadership added an amendment to the Farm Bill that suspended Congress’ war powers. Massie’s demand for Congress to reassert its constitutional powers and know what they’re voting on has caused a headache for the House GOP.

“Every year that I’ve been in Congress I’ve watched, with great frustration, the flood of bills that pass in the final week by voice vote and Unanimous Consent. Forcing roll call votes here draws the wrath of lots of my colleagues who just want to go home and who prefer not to be on the record,” Massie said in an email. “I decided this year to start objecting until the Speaker restores our War Powers privileges he suspended last week in the farm bill vote and until we get a complete list of bills they plan to pass. I think it’s pretty reasonable ask.”

In response to Massie’s efforts, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced that Congress would be voting on 35 bills on Thursday. Those bills included Veterans and Small Business Enhancement Act, Vehicular Terrorism Prevention Act of 2019, Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2018, Codifying Useful Regulatory Definitions Act, No Cyber Cooperation with Russia Act, Victims of Child Abuse Act Reauthorization Act of 2018, and the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018.

All of those bills were about to pass the House without so much as a debate or a record of which congressmen actually supported it.

Massie’s efforts to restoring Congress’ war powers stems from his anger at Ryan over a resolution embedded in the Farm Bill that ended the debate over America’s involvement in Yemen for the rest of this Congress. It passed the House by a slim 206 to 203 vote margin, with Massie being one of the bill’s most vocal critics along with 16 other Republicans. This vote came the same day that the Senate voted 56-41 to end U.S. support for Saudi Arabia in the Yemen War.

The House resolution stops the Senate bill from being considered in the House and thus continues America’s involvement in the Yemen War, which has caused more than 80,000 Yemeni children to starve to death.

“To avoid a debate on whether the US should be involved in a war in Yemen, today our leadership will trick members into suspending the provisions of the War Powers Act,” tweeted Massie on the day of the vote. “Sad!”

Massie remains the sole congressman willing to stand up to Paul Ryan on America’s involvement in the Yemen War and their inability to do their job and voting for the bills instead of passing them unanimously without debate.

Ryan Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. He is a writer based in New York.