Key Vote Alert: “NO” SENATE AMENDMENT TO H.R. 1158 AND “NO” ON SENATE AMENDMENT TO H.R. 1865, THE END-OF-YEAR SPENDING AGREEMENT AKA THE “DOUBLE-DECKER BUS”

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Club for Growth opposes the Senate Amendment to H.R. 1158, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, and the Senate Amendment to H.R. 1865, the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, and urges all Representatives and Senators to vote no. The legislation is expected to be considered soon in the House of Representatives and Senate.  The results of both of the votes will be included in the Club for Growth Foundation’s 2019 Congressional Scorecard.

This legislation spends at the discretionary spending levels of this budget-busting Bipartisan Budget Act, which increased the FY2020 spending cap by over $171 billion and is about a 5:1 ratio of higher spending over revenue cuts on the repeal of the Obamacare taxes on an annualized basis.

The “Double-Decker Bus” is a spending agreement that has been split into two appropriations bills. Additionally, the Double-Decker Bus includes many anomalies that do not belong on spending bills, including anomalies that extend the authorizations of several expiring federal programs, such as a 7-year reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im), and reauthorizations of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and the Temporary Assistants for Needy Families (TANF) through the end of the fiscal year. The bill also waives statutory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO).

Additionally, the bill includes supplemental appropriations for natural disaster relief that is not subject to the budget caps. Congress has been unable to complete meaningful reforms on expiring federal programs and is instead ramming everything through on two gigantic last-minute spending bills. The spending levels of this bill will accommodate a deficit of over $1 trillion for FY2020.

Though many Members feel that a robust defense budget is required to maintain military readiness and national security, a large threat to our defense and national security remains the national debt, and a Defense Business Board report showed $125 billion in administrative waste in Pentagon business operations. A moment of reckoning will be upon Members when net interest payments exceed our defense budget in just a few years.

Last month, Club for Growth warned Members of Congress against passing a 4-week Continuing Resolution that expired on December 20th because it would back up Members of Congress against a deadline that was certain to force Senators and Representatives into supporting a last-minute deal before Christmas.  Members of Congress can probably find provisions they support within the thousands of pages of legislation in the Double-Decker Bus. However, full consideration of this massive piece of legislation should alarm Members of Congress and force them to realize they have abdicated their legislative authority to the Appropriations Committees and Congressional Leadership.

The bill also includes a provision to bailout pensions for thousands of coal miners. This is in essence, an earmark to Members that have fiercely advocated for the pension bailout.

On the bright side, the legislation repeals the Cadillac tax, the 2.3 percent Medical Device Tax, and a health insurance fee. These Obamacare-era taxes have caused health care costs to skyrocket and their repeal is welcomed, although an appropriations bill should not be the legislative vehicle to repeal these taxes. A better course of action would be repealing these Obamacare taxes along with Obamacare’s spending.

Club for Growth Foundation’s Congressional Scorecard for the 116th Congress provides a comprehensive rating of how well or how poorly each member of Congress supports pro-growth, free-market policies and will be distributed to the public.

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Vote Results

Club Position

No

Required for Majority

1/2

Vote Results

Motion Agreed to

Vote Number

428

Vote Date

December 19, 2019

Vote Counts

YEAs:

81

NAYs:

11

Not Voting:

8

Name

State

Party

Vote Position

Lamar Alexander

TN

R

Yea

Tammy Baldwin

WI

D

Yea

John Barrasso

WY

R

Yea

Michael Bennet

CO

D

Yea

Marsha Blackburn

TN

R

Yea

Richard Blumenthal

CT

D

Yea

Roy Blunt

MO

R

Yea

Cory Booker

NJ

D

Abs

John Boozman

AR

R

Yea

Mike Braun

IN

R

Nay

Sherrod Brown

OH

D

Yea

Richard Burr

NC

R

Abs

Maria Cantwell

WA

D

Yea

Shelley Moore Capito

WV

R

Yea

Benjamin Cardin

MD

D

Yea

Thomas Carper

DE

D

Nay

Robert Casey

PA

D

Yea

Bill Cassidy

LA

R

Yea

Susan Collins

ME

R

Yea

Christopher Coons

DE

D

Yea

John Cornyn

TX

R

Yea

Catherine Cortez Masto

NV

D

Yea

Tom Cotton

AR

R

Yea

Kevin Cramer

ND

R

Yea

Mike Crapo

ID

R

Yea

Ted Cruz

TX

R

Nay

Steve Daines

MT

R

Yea

Tammy Duckworth

IL

D

Yea

Richard Durbin

IL

D

Yea

Michael Enzi

WY

R

Yea

Joni Ernst

IA

R

Yea

Dianne Feinstein

CA

D

Yea

Deb Fischer

NE

R

Yea

Cory Gardner

CO

R

Yea

Kirsten Gillibrand

NY

D

Nay

Lindsey Graham

SC

R

Yea

Chuck Grassley

IA

R

Yea

Kamala Harris

CA

D

Abs

Maggie Hassan

NH

D

Yea

Josh Hawley

MO

R

Nay

Martin Heinrich

NM

D

Yea

Mazie Hirono

HI

D

Yea

John Hoeven

ND

R

Yea

Cindy Hyde-Smith

MS

R

Yea

James Inhofe

OK

R

Yea

Johnny Isakson

GA

R

Abs

Ron Johnson

WI

R

Yea

Doug Jones

AL

D

Yea

Tim Kaine

VA

D

Yea

John Kennedy

LA

R

Yea

Angus King

ME

I

Yea

Amy Klobuchar

MN

D

Abs

James Lankford

OK

R

Yea

Patrick Leahy

VT

D

Yea

Mike Lee

UT

R

Nay

Joe Manchin

WV

D

Yea

Edward Markey

MA

D

Nay

Mitch McConnell

KY

R

Yea

Martha McSally

AZ

R

Yea

Robert Menendez

NJ

D

Yea

Jeff Merkley

OR

D

Nay

Jerry Moran

KS

R

Yea

Lisa Murkowski

AK

R

Yea

Christopher Murphy

CT

D

Yea

Patty Murray

WA

D

Yea

Rand Paul

KY

R

Abs

David Perdue

GA

R

Yea

Gary Peters

MI

D

Yea

Rob Portman

OH

R

Yea

Jack Reed

RI

D

Yea

Jim Risch

ID

R

Yea

Pat Roberts

KS

R

Yea

Mitt Romney

UT

R

Yea

Jacky Rosen

NV

D

Yea

Mike Rounds

SD

R

Yea

Marco Rubio

FL

R

Yea

Bernie Sanders

VT

I

Abs

Ben Sasse

NE

R

Yea

Brian Schatz

HI

D

Yea

Chuck Schumer

NY

D

Nay

Tim Scott

SC

R

Yea

Rick Scott

FL

R

Yea

Jeanne Shaheen

NH

D

Yea

Richard Shelby

AL

R

Yea

Krysten Sinema

AZ

D

Yea

Tina Smith

MN

D

Yea

Debbie Stabenow

MI

D

Yea

Dan Sullivan

AK

R

Yea

Jon Tester

MT

D

Yea

John Thune

SD

R

Yea

Thom Tillis

NC

R

Yea

Pat Toomey

PA

R

Yea

Tom Udall

NM

D

Yea

Chris Van Hollen

MD

D

Nay

Mark Warner

VA

D

Yea

Elizabeth Warren

MA

D

Abs

Sheldon Whitehouse

RI

D

Yea

Roger Wicker

MS

R

Yea

Ron Wyden

OR

D

Nay

Todd Young

IN

R

Yea

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