Every Republican and a handful of progressive Dems voted against funding the Capitol police and reimbursing expenses incurred on January 6th and the aftermath.
The legislation was approved 213-212, mostly along party lines. No Republican voted in favor, and six progressive Democrats declined to support the measure.
The Democratic defectors said they were upset that the bill gave money to Capitol Police without adequately addressing the department’s failures and lack of preparedness on Jan. 6“I have not been convinced of the importance of the money,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) told reporters. She voted “no,” joined by Reps. Cori Bush (D., Mo.) and Ayanna Pressley (D., Mass.). Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) voted present.
I’m not sure why the progressives did this.Apparently, they believe the Capitol police failed in their duty so they should be denied funding which I don’t think actually tracks with what the bill does. I guess they are making a point about defunding the police which is not surprising but seems to me to be a strange issue on which to make that stand. (I realize that federal officials have little influence on this issue so maybe this is the only way they can put their money where their mouths are.)
It’s not a big deal. Progressives were smart enough not to actually help them vote this down, which would have been a truly self-defeating move. No harm no foul.
But let’s talk about the Republicans voting en masse to defund the police. What?