Seventeen Senate Republicans who are still mad at Donald Trump for cutting a deal with Democrats had the nerve to vote against hurricane relief funds for Harvey victims in Texas.
The combined hurricane relief and debt limit bill passed by a vote of 80-17.
All 17 of the no votes came from Republicans.
Here is the list of Republicans who voted no:
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17 NOs on Harvey Aid Deal:
Corker
Daines
Enzi
Ernst
Fischer
Flake
Graham
Grassley
Johnson
Lankford
Lee
McCain
Moran
Paul
Risch
Sasse
Toomey— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) September 7, 2017
More Democrats (plus Independents who vote with the Democrats) supported the bill than Republicans.
What the Republicans who voted no wanted was a rejection of Trump’s deal with Democrats. They wanted to vote on a stand alone hurricane relief bill like the House passed, and separate longer debt ceiling bill. Republicans hate voting to raise the debt limit, and they are angry that they are going to be faced with having to take a second vote that will be unpopular with their voters.
A group of Senate Republicans would rather delay passage of hurricane relief funds than vote for a piece of legislation that may make them take an uncomfortable vote later. It doesn’t matter if the delay would have been as short as a day, the victims of Harvey need that aid ASAP.
Seventeen Senate Republicans should have done the right thing and put people who lost everything in one of the worst storms in history first. Instead, they threw a tantrum and voted against aid for people who are suffering after Harvey.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association