In the end, it wasn’t that close. Only Fifty-nine House Republicans voted against the continuing resolution that funds the government through September; 81 Democrats voted for it. It’s the third funding measure that passed with Democrats making up the crucial majority.
There wasn’t much suspense about the outcome. After voting, Speaker of the House John Boehner walked off the floor and took a break on the members-only smoking lounge on the House’s balcony – not exactly the move of a man panicking over the final votes. After returning from the lounge himself, Rep. Stephen LaTourette, R-Ohio.,
“There was a piece of false information from people who don’t understand the difference between budget authority and budget outlays. Some story says it’s only $321 million, and it makes some people jumpy. It’s not true.”
Rep. Tom Reed, R-NY, a freshman and former mayor, said he was temporarily confused by those reports. But he voted for the bill.
“The whole process is mind-boggling,” he said. “But when you pull it back, what I saw, and what I still believe, is that those were big cuts. Legitimate cuts.”
Rep. Brad Miller, D-NC, had voted for previous continuing resolutions. He voted against this one, as did Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. He did so, he said, expecting that the votes were there to pass the package. In the end a lot of Democrats waited until the bill was clearly en route to victory. ad they wanted to hold their powder, 42 more of them could have voted no. But there are tough upcoming votes that will be tougher if Democrats negotiate in bad faith.
The bill moves to the Senate, where as of now Rand Paul is still weighing a filibuster.
Here’s the roll call . Of the 59 Republican “nos,” 27 came from freshmen.*
*I don’t count the members who came back to Congress after previous terms as “freshmen.” Sorry, Steve Chabot.
