House does redo vote on bill to reopen government

The House revoted Wednesday on a Democratic-backed short-term spending bill to fund the government through Feb. 28, passing the legislation in a 229-184 vote.

Democratic leaders brought the measure back up for a vote following chaos on the House floor last week. The measure initially passed the lower chamber in a voice vote on Thursday, but Republicans called foul when their request for a roll call was not granted.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) later requested to vacate that vote and bring the measure back to the floor after lawmakers returned from their three-day holiday weekend.{mosads}

Six Republicans joined Democrats on Wednesday in voting for the funding bill: GOP Reps. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), Will Hurd (Texas), John Katko (N.Y.), Chris Smith (N.J.), Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.).

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) was the lone Democrat to vote against the bill.

“Most of our votes are pretty straightforward, but today was a tough/nuanced call,” she wrote in a story posted to her official Instagram account. “We didn’t vote with the party because one of the spending bills included ICE funding and our community felt strongly about not funding that.”

Ocasio-Cortez garnered attention earlier this month after she blasted President Trump for funding ICE hours after she voted for a bill to reopen the government that include money for the federal agency. 

Democratic leaders brought the latest short-term funding measure to the floor as part of a strategy to try to pressure GOP lawmakers into breaking with President Trump over his demand for billions of dollars to fund a wall along the nation’s southern border.

Its passage comes on the 33rd day of the partial government shutdown as negotiators continue to struggle to find a path forward to reopen the government.

Trump has vowed he will not sign a spending bill that doesn’t provide funding for the barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border, while Democratic negotiators have asserted they are not open to supporting the $5.7 billion in border security funding requested by the administration.

The president over the weekend proposed extending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and temporary protected status as part of an immigration deal with Democrats. But Democratic leaders quickly rebuffed the offer, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) arguing the proposals are “unacceptable and in total, do not represent a good faith effort to restore certainty to people’s lives.”

Both sides have accused the opposing party of holding the government hostage, with Republicans arguing Democrats aren’t taking negotiations seriously and need to present a counteroffer. Democrats, meanwhile, have called for the government to reopen before they move forward with talks on how to best secure the border.

The House will take up a separate measure to fund the remaining agencies through the end of the fiscal year later in the day. Neither measure is expected to pass the upper chamber.

Updated: 2:47 p.m.