Here Are the 10 Republicans Who Broke With Party To Vote for New Funding Bill - Tucker
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Here Are the 10 Republicans Who Broke With Party To Vote for New Funding Bill

Ten House Republicans broke ranks and voted for a short-term funding bill on Friday that will avert a government shutdown.

The bill that cleared the lower chamber in a 230-201 vote will fund the government at previous fiscal year levels until Dec. 16.

Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, Garret Graves of Louisiana, Chris Jacobs of New York, John Katko of New York, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, Hal Rogers of Kentucky, Fred Upton of Michigan and Steve Womack of Arkansas joined all voting Democrats in supporting the measure.

Included in the resolution is more than $12 billion in security and financial assistance for Ukraine, $2 billion for U.S. disaster relief, $2.5 billion for wildfires in New Mexico and $1 billion for home heating assistance. It also reauthorizes Food and Drug Administration user fees for five years.

The Senate passed the bill in a bipartisan 72-25 vote on Thursday. The measure now heads to President Biden’s desk for his signature. The government shutdown the funding bill is in place to avoid would have been triggered at midnight.

House Republican leadership started to argue against the bill on Tuesday. In a notice sent to all House GOP offices, Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) urged his colleagues to vote against the stopgap bill because Democrats allegedly refused to negotiate with Republicans on key matters such as inflation and the border.

“The Majority has refused to negotiate with Ranking Member [Kay] Granger [(R-TX)] or any other House Republican leader on pressing issues relating to our government funding priorities, including runaway inflation, the supply chain crisis, the border crisis, or the opioid deaths associated with drugs like fentanyl coming across our open southern border, and have instead decided to kick the can to December, setting up another government funding showdown during the unaccountable lame duck period,” the notice from Scalise read.

Many top Republicans took issue with the short-term nature of the funding measure, and will only keep the government running until Dec. 16, which is “setting up yet another shutdown showdown.” Lawmakers will have to come up with a funding bill by mid-December to keep the government operating for the rest of the fiscal year.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said last week that Republicans in the lower chamber should not support the spending bill if it does not “address the border crisis immediately.”

Rogers said in a statement that he voted for the stopgap bill “despite some of its flaws” because of the necessary disaster relief and home energy assistance provisions, citing historic flooding in Kentucky, his home state.

“Eastern Kentucky needs every federal dollar we can get to help with flood relief efforts,” the congressman said in a statement.

“This bill is far from perfect, but it’s a good addition for disaster relief as we work together to meet the needs that are still prevalent in Eastern Kentucky’s hardest hit communities,” he added.

He did, however, express frustration that the measure did not address issues with increasing inflation, energy or the immigrant and drug crisis over the southern border.

“Nonetheless, this bill gives us more time to work toward a resolution and provides important supplemental funding in support of Ukraine, and critical emergency funding for disaster relief,” he said.

Upton discussed the resolution in a statement on Friday, pointing to the Ukraine funding, disaster relief and the extension of FDA user fees.

“Particularly with their recent military success the past two weeks, one can only imagine if the rug was pulled out on any Ukraine aid which also restocks US military supplies,” he wrote.

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