Over the weekend, Republicans representing Florida in the U.S. House split over a funding measure backed by U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as Congress averted a shutdown, passing a spending bill to keep the federal government open through the middle of November.
The House passed the measure on a 335-91 vote as 90 Republicans broke with the GOP leadership and joined U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., in voting against it.
Florida Republicans split on the measure as U.S. Reps. Gus Bilirakis, Vern Buchanan, Mario Diaz-Balart, Neal Dunn, Carlos Gimenez, Laura Lee, John Rutherford and Maria Elvira Salazar, voted for the measure. and U.S. Reps. Aaron Bean, Kat Cammack, Scott Franklin, Matt Gaetz, Brian Mast, Cory Mills, Bill Posey, Greg Steube, Mike Waltz and Dan Webster voted against it. Florida Republican U.S. Reps Byron Donalds and Anna Paulina Luna did not vote.
Over the weekend, republicans from the Sunshine State weighed in on their votes.
“Today, I chose to support our military, contractors, and families already grappling with sky-high inflation as a result of Bidenomics,” said Dunn. “While a continuing resolution was not the solution I hoped for, it does include disaster funding that’s critical for Florida’s Second Congressional District. I will work with House Republicans towards a fully-funded government in the next 45 days.”
“Voters sent us to Washington to do our jobs and govern. Keeping the government open and operational is the bare minimum of our responsibilities. Today, I voted to pass a bipartisan 45-day stopgap funding bill that prevents a wasteful shutdown, pays our troops, maintains operations of the federal airspace, extends authorization of the National Flood Insurance Program, and funds important federal disaster relief for victims of the Hawaii fires and Florida hurricanes. I urge the Senate to swiftly pass this bill for the American people, so that we can get back to work passing all 12 conservative appropriations bills that make record cuts to federal spending, impose important oversight of the Biden administration, and secure the border,” said Rutherford.
“The United States right now is struggling with the skyrocketing inflation caused by Bidenomics, rising gas prices and a southern border that remains wide open to tens of thousands of migrants everyday,” Mast insisted on Sunday. “That is why, yesterday, I voted for legislation that would have cut federal spending to fight inflation, and secured the border, while still keeping the government open for 30 days. I voted for that continuing resolution (CR) because it didn’t just kick the can down the road, it contained several conservative policies that I support, but it still gave Congress an extension to do the hard work of passing individual spending bills for each federal agency. Unfortunately, that bill did not pass.
“House Republicans put forward another CR bill that would fund the government for the next 45 days. While – thankfully – it did not include funding for Ukraine, I don’t believe it was as strong as the bill that the House considered yesterday. That is why I voted no on the continuing resolution,” he added. “I remain hopeful that Congress will continue to tackle the tough problems and will keep working in the coming weeks to pass bills that are thoughtfully debated and make sure that every tax dollar spent helps the American people.”
Posey insisted the resolution that cleared Capitol Hill “continues the cycle of Washington budget gimmicks and failed policies which have created a crisis on our southern border, fueled deficit spending and ballooned our national debt to unsustainable levels bringing about historic inflation and price increases on American families and workers.” He also stressed his opposition to it. “It’s unacceptable, I voted against it, and I will not vote for any budget proposal that does not secure our border.”
Gaetz, an increasingly vocal opponent of McCarthy, said he plans to introduce a motion to remove the speaker for working with Democrats to pass the resolution.
Every Democrat from the Sunshine State voted for the resolution.
“Today, I voted to avert a Republican, extremist-manufactured government shutdown and put the American people first. While this continuing resolution is a temporary solution and may not be perfect, it provides the critical FEMA disaster relief funding that Florida families need and it keeps our government up and running. Quite simply, it was the responsible thing to do,” said U.S Rep. Shelia Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla. “This should never have been an 11th-hour ordeal. The fact that more Democrats than Republicans voted for this measure is a clear indication that one side is focused solely on governing and delivering solutions, while the other side is obsessed with brinksmanship and petty politics. During these next 45 days, I urge Speaker McCarthy and his Republican colleagues to quit playing games with the American people.”
“Today, I cast my vote in favor of the continuing resolution, for a very simple reason: we must keep our government open. This resolution offers us an additional 45 days, a brief window of opportunity for Speaker McCarthy and his Republican colleagues to fulfill the promises they made to the American people,” said U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla. “A government shutdown is not an abstract concept. It has real and dire consequences for our fellow citizens. It jeopardizes vital programs like SNAP and WIC, programs that countless families rely on to put food on the table. It forces our brave servicemembers to work without the compensation they rightfully deserve. Such a shutdown would inflict severe harm upon our economy and our nation, and we simply cannot allow that to come to pass.
“Let me be clear though: I will not vote to criminalize abortion, I will not vote to bully the LGBTQ+ community, I will not vote to cut public education funding, I will not vote to slash social security, and I will not vote to cut public safety. These are the proposals extreme MAGA Republicans want, and Democrats will not stand for that,” Wilson continued. “As we enter this extended 45-day period to deliberate and negotiate a final budget, it is essential to recognize that House Republicans find themselves isolated on an island by themselves. What we are witnessing is a civil war within the Republican party, a divisive struggle that must be resolved so that we can return to the urgent task of serving the needs and aspirations of the American people.”
The measure easily cleared the Senate on a 88-9 vote. Florida Republican U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott voted for it.
“Today, Americans won and the Washington establishment lost because for the first time in many years, Republicans in Washington are actually starting to act like Republicans. Today’s vote was a major win for Florida and America because we kept government funded while securing the $16 billion in disaster aid that I have been demanding since Hurricane Idalia hit Florida. When President Biden came to Florida to visit the destruction the storm caused, I pressed him for this funding. And, despite some Washington politicians’ best efforts, we stopped their attempts to hold disaster victims hostage in exchange for funding for Ukraine,” said Scott. “Now that we have taken this critical step to put Americans first over foreign wars, we must actually start considering our budget and pass it in a manner that doesn’t include massive omnibus bills. In normal Washington fashion, we know that the establishment will want to jam through a massive end-of-year omnibus spending bill right before the holidays that is loaded with earmarks and special projects for politicians – but that will only worsen the pain caused by Joe Biden’s inflation induced policies. I am going to continue fighting alongside other conservatives in Congress to make sure that doesn’t happen – because there is no way we can continue down this path we are on that has led every American to see higher gas costs, excessive medical bills and unaffordable prices at the grocery store.”
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