Top Republicans Call Dem Amendment ‘Cynical Ploy’ Amid Politically Charged Branch Vote
Top Republicans on Sunday criticized a Democratic senator’s decision to introduce an amendment against the gas tax at a 60-vote threshold after voting against a similar amendment at a 50-vote threshold during the marathon vote of the Senate.
“It’s certainly a very cynical ploy,” said Senate Minority Whip John Thune, RS.D. “Vote for one at 60 after you just voted against at 51. But nothing around here surprises me.”
“They are completely misleading,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Rick Scott, R-Fla.
The senator who introduced the amendment, Sen. Maggie Hassan, DN.H., rejected similar comments from Sen. Lindsey Graham, RSC, when she first introduced it.
“I’m just going to note the imprecision of what was said on the floor about the substance of this,” he said.
Democrats, meanwhile, accuse Republicans of presenting all their amendments in bad faith. Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., said he will not vote on any Republican amendment because they plan to vote unanimously to vote against the bill.
“The Inflation Reduction Act is the product of years of bipartisan conversations about the most impactful ways to produce more energy domestically, reduce energy and health care costs, and pay down our debt. The IRA accomplishes this without raising the taxes,” he said.
“However, my R friends have made it clear that they are totally unwilling to support this bill under any conditions. None of their amendments would change that. For that reason, I will be voting to protect the integrity of the IRA regardless of the substance. of their bogus amendments,” Manchin added.
Meanwhile, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-R, said he admired the political movement of Democrats, even if they are blocking implementation of an amendment he supported.
“It was a smart move on their part from a parliamentary perspective,” he said.
Three other vulnerable Democratic senators running for re-election joined Hassan in the vote: Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev. and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., introduced an amendment similar to Hassan’s later in the floor vote after Democrats blocked a GOP amendment to codify Title 42. That amendment also won the votes of Warnock, Hassan and Kelly, among others. . But he still fell short of the 60 votes he needed to succeed.
