Meet the Democrats who voted to defend ICE
One of the many advantages of being the majority party in the House is the ability to make the minority party furious. That was the play behind Wednesday’s resolution to support Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a nonbinding measure meant entirely to embarrass Democrats, because some of their most left-wing members want ICE to be abolished, and because at the moment that idea is a loser in the polls.
The left-wingers didn’t bite. Rep. Marc Pocan (D-Wis.), who has sponsored the House’s only “Abolish ICE” bill, voted “present,” as did most of his Democratic colleagues. Eighteen Democrats voted for the resolution, though — and Republicans expected them to. An earlier idea, to bring up Pocan’s bill for a vote, was scrapped after it was seen as an easy “no” vote for Democrats in swing and Senate races.
But those Democrats ended up backing the resolution anyway — along with a few others. Because this is probably not the last “stunt” vote we’ll see before the midterms, here’s a guide to the outliers.
The Trump district Democrats
Just a dozen House Democrats represent districts where voters rejected Hillary Clinton in 2016. Half of them voted to support ICE agents: Rep. Matthew Cartwright (D-Pa.), Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.), Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Pa.), Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-Ariz.), and Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.).
” GOP forces House Democrats into ‘gotcha vote’”....
Wish the GOP worked like that every day. Might even vote for one or two in time.