Top House Democrats press Senate colleagues to sink GOP spending bill
The top House Democrats are pressing their fellow party members in the Senate to kill the Republicans’ spending bill when it reaches the upper chamber, saying the proposal will hurt Americans around the country.
“I wouldn’t expect senators to vote for this,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar (Calif.), the head of the House Democratic Caucus. “This is a bad bill. We did not negotiate this bill. They did not negotiate this bill. … In the interest of our national security, in the interest of American families, they need to vote no and beat back this bill.”
The push comes as Senate Democratic leaders have been tepid in their approach to the Republican bill and some moderates have suggested they’re open to supporting it.
House Democrats were virtually united Tuesday evening in opposing the GOP spending package, which was crafted by House Republicans without Democratic input. They lost only one defection, Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), who said he didn’t want to risk a government shutdown.
Golden’s support was not a deciding factor in approving the bill, which passed 217-213 and now heads to the Senate, where moderate Democrats will have to decide whether to back it or not. Because the filibuster is in play — a procedural gambit requiring 60 votes in the Senate — passage in the upper chamber would require eight Democrats to cross the aisle.
The House Democratic leaders are urging them to resist. They said the party unity displayed in the House Tuesday evening should lend both momentum and inspiration to Senate Democrats to oppose the bill, as well.
“It’s my understanding that Senate Democrats are meeting as a caucus tomorrow,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said. “The strong House Democratic vote in opposition to this reckless Republican spending bill speaks for itself.”
Rep. Katherine Clark (Mass.), the Democratic whip, piled on. She characterized the GOP bill as a threat to federal programs benefiting kids, seniors, veterans and other vulnerable populations — cuts designed to make budget space to accommodate President Trump’s proposed tax cuts.
“This is one of these votes that shows: whose side are you on? Are you fighting for the folks at home? Are you fighting for the things like public schools, for our Veterans Administration? Clark said. “So I don’t know why a Democrat would look at this and decide they want to be on that side of the ledger. I think we, as House Democrats, have sent a very strong message.
“You don’t go after people’s health care. You don’t go after research. You don’t go after our public schools and our veterans and say there’s anything else here except a plot to cut spending in order to give it to the wealthiest people,” she continued. “So I expect we’re going to see a no vote out of the U.S. Senate.”
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