Trump and Pelosi make common cause: they both hate AOCFriday, the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (HR 2500) passed 220-197. Every Republican voted against it, along with 8 progressive Democrats (Earl Blumenauer, Adriano Espaillat, Barbara Lee, AOC, Ilhan Omar, Mark Pocan, Ayanna Pressley and Rashia Tlaib). The Republicans opposed it because it didn't allocate enough money to the Military Industrial Complex and because several amendments curtailed Trump's ability to abuse the Pentagon and the separation of powers. Many progressives opposed the bill’s $733 billion price tag, but agreed to support it if certain amendments pass, particularly the ones constraining Trump’s war powers.There were dozens of amendments, some of which-- by Ted Lieu and Ro Khanna-- we've talked about in recent days. Most of the amendments offered by Democrats-- like Ted's and Ro's-- passed. But not the two offered by AOC. One would have kept Trump from sending troops to the border and another was meant to bar funds from keeping migrants in Department of Defense facilities, in effect turning them into concentration camps. Amendment 429 failed 179-241-- 52 Democrats joining all the Republicans to oppose it-- and Amendment 430 failed 173-245-- 58 Democrats joining all but one Texas Republican to oppose it. Most of the AOC-hating Blue Dogs and New Dems opposed both amendments. Here's the whole list of the Democrats who voted against one or both of the AOC amendments-- in case you keep track of things like that (also included is each member's ProgressivePunch grade):
• Cindy Axne (New Dem-IA)- F• Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY)- F• Cheri Bustos (New Dem-IL)- F• Gil Cisneros (New Dem-CA)- F• Lacy Clay (MO)- B• Emanuel Cleaver (MO)- C• TJ Cox (CA)- F• Angie Craig (New Dem-MN)- F• Charlie Crist (Blue Dog-FL)- F• Jason Crow (New Dem-CO)- F• Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-SC)- F• Antonio Delgado (NY)- F• Abby Finkenauer (IA)- F• Jared Golden (ME)- F• Josh Gottheimer (Blue Dog-NJ)- F• Josh Harder (New Dem-CA)- F• Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK)- F• Steven Horsford (New Dem-NV)- F• Crissy Houlahan (New Dem-PA)- F• Marcy Kaptur (OH)- F• Andy Kim (NJ)- F• Conor Lamb (PA)- F• Al Lawson (New Dem-FL)- F• Susie Lee (New Dem-NV)- F• Mark Levin (CA)- B• Dave Loebsack (IA)- F• Elaine Luria (New Dem-VA)- F• Stephen Lynch (New Dem-MA)- F• Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT)- F• Lucy McBath (New Dem-GA)- F• Joe Morelle (NY)- F• Seth Moulton (New Dem-MA)- F• Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (New Dem-FL)- C• Stephanie Murphy (Blue Dog-FL)- F• Tom O'Halleran (Blue Dog-AZ)- F• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)- F• Dean Phillips (New Dem-MN)- F• Kathleen Rice (New Dem-NY)- F• Max Rose (Blue Dog-NY)- F• Harley Rouda (New Dem-CA)- F• Mary Gay Scanlon (PA)- B• David Scott (Blue Dog-GA)- F• Terri Sewell (New Dem-AL)- F• Mikie Sherrill (Blue Dog-NJ)- F• Elissa Slotkin (New Dem-MI)- F• Abigail Spanberger (Blue Dog-VA)- F• Haley Stevens (New Dem-MI)- F• Xochitl Torres Small (Blue Dog-NM)- F• Lauren Underwood (IL)- F• Jefferson Van Drew (Blue Dog-NJ)- F• Sue Wild (New Dem-PA)- F• Colin Allred (New Dem-TX)- F• Salud Carbajal (New Dem-CA)- F• Matt Cartwright (PA)- A• Ed Case (Blue Dog-HI)- F• Sean Casten (New Dem-IL)- F• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)- F• Val Demings (New Dem-FL)- F• Lizzie Fletcher (New Dem-TX)- F• Vicente González (Blue Dog-TX)- F• Jahana Hayes (CT)- A• Katie Hill (New Dem-CA)- F• Anne Kuster (New Dem-NH)- F• Jim Langevin (RI)- C• Tom Malinowski (New Dem-NJ)- F• Chris Pappas (New Dem-NH)- B• Scott Peters (New Dem-CA)- F• Katie Porter (CA)- F• Kurt Schrader (Blue Dog-OR)- F• Kim Schrier (New Dem-WA)- F• Jackie Speier (CA)- C• Debbie Wasserman Schultz (New Dem-FL)- D• Jennifer Wexton (New Dem-VA)- F• Dan Lipinski (Blue Dog-IL)- F "present"
By the way, another reason conservatives voted against the Pentagon funding bill is because it includes an amendment by Jackie Speier reversing Trump's ban on transgender soldiers. That amendment passed 242-187, with 10 Republicans-- Susan Brooks (IN), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), Trey Hollingsworth (IN), Will Hurd (TX), John Katko (NY), Tom Reed (NY), Elise Stefanik (NY), Steve Stivers (OH), Fred Upton (MI) and Greg Walden (OR)--voting with the Democrats for equality.And then there's the good kind of bipartisanship-- working for the common goodAnd a nice little UPDATE from this morning, courtesy of Señor Trumpanzee's, the Internet's biggest troll-- although, please keep in mind that AOC was born in New York City, just like Trumpanzee, Ayanna Pressley was born in Cincinnati, one part of Ohio that voted against Trumpanzee in 2016 and Rashida Tlaib was born in Detroit, another part of the U.S. that had the good sense to firmly reject Trumpanzee in 2016.And he's sure that Nancy would pay? Has she contradicted him?And, by the way, an awful lot of people get the news from The View, which helps explain why so many voters are so misinformed and even stupid beyond redemption. It's not Fox News, of course, but it really is just as steeped in self-righteous ignorance.
