Evan Vucci/AP Images
The Senate on Thursday approved a contentious deal, struck between President Donald Trump and Democratic leaders, that would provide aid for Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, suspend the debt ceiling, and fund the government for three months.
The bill passed 80-17, with all the opposition coming from Republicans.
The bill would allocate just over $15 billion in aid to assist in recovery after Harvey struck Texas and Louisiana late last month. Additionally, as per the terms of the deal, the bill would suspend the debt ceiling and fund the government via a continuing resolution for three months.
Republican leaders wanted to push the debt-ceiling deadline further, but Trump sided with Democrats on the three-month extension.
Despite the distaste for the deal, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell supported the package and encouraged his conference to vote for it.
Two GOP senators, Rand Paul and Ben Sasse, offered amendments to the bill that would have altered the package. Paul’s would have offset the Harvey aid with spending cuts, and Sasse’s would have stripped the continuing-resolution and debt-ceiling components. Both were defeated.
Since the debt-ceiling amendment and the continuing resolution were added to the Harvey aid bill, the package will head to the House for a vote over the next few days.
Here are the senators who voted against the bill:
Bob Corker (Tennessee)
Steve Daines (Montana)
Mike Enzi (Wyoming)
Joni Ernst (Iowa)
Deb Fischer (Nebraska)
Jeff Flake (Arizona)
Lindsey Graham (South Carolina)
Chuck Grassley (Iowa)
Ron Johnson (Wisconsin)
James Lankford (Oklahoma)
Mike Lee (Utah)
John McCain (Arizona)
Jerry Moran (Kansas)
Rand Paul (Kentucky)
James Risch (Idaho)
Ben Sasse (Nebraska)
Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania)
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
