13 Republicans Break Ranks, Vote with Dems to Pass Infrastructure Bill
Thirteen Republicans jumped across the aisle late Friday night to deliver President Joe Biden a massive victory by voting with Democrats to pass his $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill while many Americans were asleep.
The New York Post reported that the final vote was 228-206, ushering in a new era of spending on infrastructure and other aspects of Biden’s agenda.
The Republicans who voted for the bill were Reps. Don Young of Alaska; Adam Kinzinger of Illinois; Fred Upton of Michigan; Don Bacon of Nebraska; Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey; Andrew Garbarino, John Katko, Nicole Malliotakis and Tom Reed of New York; Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio; Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania; and David McKinley of West Virginia.
Six Democrats voted against the bill: Reps. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts; Rashida Tlaib of Michigan; Ilhan Omar of Minnesota; Cori Bush of Missouri; and Jamaal Bowman and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
Those Democratic votes would have been enough to block the bill if the 13 Republicans hadn’t bucked party leadership and bailed out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The bill contains provisions for much more than traditional infrastructure.
The bipartisan infrastructure proposal floating around the Senate is essentially a Green New Deal Lite.
Check out the latest #RSC memo from Chairman @RepJimBanks explaining the top 10 reasons to vote no: pic.twitter.com/BgdtCI2Pp0
— RSC (@RepublicanStudy) August 2, 2021
Deseret News reported that it includes a controversial “anti-discrimination” measure that some fear could put religious freedom at risk.
The bill passed the Senate in August but had stalled out in the House, where Pelosi did not have the votes to advance it until the GOP members joined her ranks.
A vote on Biden’s slimmed-down Build Back Better Act is scheduled to take place before Nov. 15 as part of an agreement to inch the infrastructure bill across the finish line.
That vote will take place following assurances from the Congressional Budget Office that the bill will not contribute to the national debt.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki celebrated the bill’s passage on Twitter.
Proof that delivering for the American people is worth all the painful sausage making. Clean drinking water for kids, broadband access, electric vehicles, biggest investment in public transit. It’s happening. And more to come.
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) November 6, 2021
“Proof that delivering for the American people is worth all the painful sausage making. Clean drinking water for kids, broadband access, electric vehicles, biggest investment in public transit. It’s happening. And more to come,” Psaki tweeted.
“Tonight, we took a monumental step forward as a nation,” Biden said in a statement on Saturday. “Generations from now, people will look back and know this is when America won the economic competition for the 21st Century.”
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