Senate votes down Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal 57-0 with high-profile Democrats joining Republicans to show their disapproval of radical plan as she says she didn’t want vote to happen and charges GOP climate policy with wrecking havoc on world
The Senate roundly rejected Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal as expected on Tuesday with not a single senator voting ‘yes’
The final Senate vote was 57 nays and 43 present
Most of the Democrats voted ‘present’ in protest
Ocasio-Cortez argued she encouraged the senators to vote ‘present’
Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia; Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona; and Doug Jones of Alabama all voted no as did Independent Sen. Angus King
Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell staged a show vote on Green New Deal
The move was designed to put Democrats on the record about the progressive plan, in a vote Republicans can exploit later for political purposes
Earlier Tuesday, Ocasio-Cortez slammed Republican Sen. Mike Lee, who mocked her Green New Deal in a speech on the Senate floor
‘If this guy can be Senator, you can do anything,’ she tweeted
Lee, in a colorful speech, used a variety of photos to make his point
Lee claimed the deal would ban airplanes and leave Hawaii to use ‘a massive fleet of giant, highly trained sea horses’ to get around
By EMILY GOODIN
DAILYMAIL.COM
26 March 2019
The Senate roundly rejected Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal as expected on Tuesday with not a single senator voting ‘yes’ for the progressive star’s signature policy initiative.
Ocasio-Cortez defended herself after the defeat and argued she encouraged the Democratic senators to vote ‘present’ instead of in the affirmative.
‘I encouraged them to vote present, along w/ others. McConnell tried to rush the #GreenNewDeal straight to the floor without a hearing. The real question we should be asking: Why does the Senate GOP refuse to hold any major hearings on climate change?,’ the self-described socialist explained in a tweet responding to the lack of Democratic votes.
‘The GOP’s climate delaying is costing us lives + destroying communities. Iowa, Nebraska & many in the Midwest are catastrophically flooded right now, in one of the 1st major climate change disasters of 2019. A #GreenNewDeal urges us to pursue a plan on the scale of the problem,’ she added.
Democrats slammed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for holding a ‘sham’ vote on the matter – it was a non-binding resolution, meaning it had no force of law, and needed 60 votes to advance in the legislative process, which was an impossible task given Democrats only have 47 votes in their corner.
Most of the Democrats voted ‘present’ in protest while Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin, who represents the red state of West Virginia; Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona; and Doug Jones of Alabama voted no, as did Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine, who caucuses with Democrats.
The final vote was 57 nays and 43 present.
The Rest…HERE
