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108 House Dems defy Obama on vote

by Jordan Fabian - 04/14/11 7:00 PM ET

More than half the Democratic caucus split with President Obama and voted against the 2011 spending deal Thursday.

In the 260-167 vote, 108 of the no votes came from House Democrats, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

{mosads}The bipartisan agreement, brokered by Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), was never fully embraced by House Democrats wary of the $39.9 billion in spending cuts it contains.

The Democrats voted against a deal that Obama had praised for preventing a government shutdown.

“In the final hours before our government would be forced to shut down, leaders in both parties reached an agreement that will allow our small businesses to get the loans they need, our families to get the mortgages they applied for and hundreds of Americans to show up at work and take home their paychecks on time, including our brave men and women in uniform,” Obama said Saturday after the deal was finalized.

But Pelosi (Calif.) earlier on Thursday said her caucus was not a part of the agreement and thus she feels “no ownership of that or any responsibility to it — except that we don’t want to shut down the government.”

Democrats were upset that many of the spending cuts were made to healthcare and education programs favored by the party.

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.), who is closer with centrist Democrats, voted for the deal, providing political cover for some of the 81 members of his caucus who voted “yes.”

A full list of “yeas and nays” can be found here.

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