Pelosi holds Democrats together to pass spending deal

Firebrand liberal Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan said before the vote they couldn’t agree to give the Department of Homeland Security more money, especially after the department “separated thousands of children from their parents, denied asylum to those fleeing danger, and used taxpayers dollars as a slush fund to incite terror in immigrant communities.”

But in the end, only 19 Democrats opposed the bill, and 213 supported it — almost enough to pass the bill without any help from Republicans. The vote signals that while freshmen such as Ocasio-Cortez and Omar can get press attention, their arguments don’t necessarily hold sway over the entire House Democratic caucus.

One of the 19 Democratic “no” votes, Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York, said she didn’t begrudge Pelosi for reneging on her vow not to give Trump even one dollar for border barriers.

“I understand what the conference committee had to go through to get to where they are and, quite frankly, there are a lot of things that they were able to negotiate that they should be commended for,” she told the Washington Examiner.

Still, Clarke said she was disappointed in the final legislation and said there are other immigration priorities that Congress still needs to address.

“I’m concerned about the lack of movement on DACA, TPS,” she said, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and Temporary Protected Status. “I’m concerned about the deportations that are taking place in my constituency, and I really believe that with the president threatening executive action that this is was the time for us to really push the envelope.”

“And just the tone and tenor of how immigrants have been criminalized and dehumanized, I felt for my constituency that this was the right vote,” she added.

Pelosi was easily able to ensure passage of the spending bill in light of the 213 Democratic votes for it, and the dozens of Republicans who also voted for it as a way to ensure Congress avoids another partial government shutdown. But Pelosi did lose some votes among border-state Democrats.

One “no” vote, Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, vowed to take more proactive steps to try and thwart Trump’s plans to divert Department of Defense resources to build any fence or wall.

“If @realdonaldtrump declares a national emergency to fund his border wall, I’m prepared to introduce a resolution to terminate the President’s emergency declaration under 50 U.S.C. 1622. (National Emergencies Act),” Castro wrote.

Democratic Reps. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, Lloyd Doggett of Texas, and Juan Vargas of California also said they couldn’t support it either.