Here Are the 14 House Democrats Who Voted Against the HEROES Act

I released a video this past Friday about how the HEROES Act doesn’t really make anybody happy, and in that video I told you about Democratic Congresswoman Kendra Horn of Oklahoma, and I walked you through her press release where she stated why she would not vote for the HEROES Act.

And she was true to her word and did not vote for the HEROES Act this past Friday evening, though it did, of course, pass the House.

And Representative Horn was not alone. There were 13 other Democratic members of the House of Representatives, so a total of 14 Democratic members of the House including Horn who did not vote for the HEROES Act, and I’m going to tell you about all of them right now in this video and tell you in their own words why they passed on the bill.

Now, 13 of these representatives, including Kendra Horn, voted against the HEROES Act because they thought, essentially, there was too much fluff in it, and/or they thought it was too partisan. And of those thirteen, ten represent districts that Trump won in 2016.

Now, beyond these 13, there is one representative, number fourteen, and I’ll save her for the end, who actually voted against the HEROES Act because she said she felt it doesn’t do enough, not that it’s too partisan or wasteful, but that it doesn’t do enough, but let’s start with the more moderate Democrats who voted against the HEROES Act because they felt there was too much fluff or it was too partisan.

1. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania said, “I am concerned about supporting a $3 trillion bill that in my view does not do enough to provide direct and immediate assistance to struggling families and that will almost surely not proceed to a vote in the Senate or to any realistic negotiations with our colleagues across the aisle.”

I imagine a lot of you out there feel this way as well. You see a $3 trillion price tag, and then you look at what it’s going to do for you, and you might be left scratching your head.

2. Sharice Davids of Kansas, who is the first LGBT Native American MMA fighter in Congress, voted no, saying, and I quote, “The partisan nature and wide scope of this bill makes it doomed upon arrival in the Senate — only further delaying the aid that we desperately need. Instead we should use these measures as the foundation for a bipartisan relief package that delivers real solutions to the urgent challenges we face in the wake of this public health crisis.”

So she’s obviously focusing on the partisan nature of the HEROES Act, how it basically has a ton of stuff that many Democrats want but nothing that really attracts Republicans.

3. Cindy Axne of Iowa was a bit more blunt, she said that the HEROES Act is nothing more than Washington gamesmanship filled with “unrelated wastes of taxpayer dollars.”

Wow, that is harsh, especially from a first-time Congressperson, wonder what Pelosi thinks about her.

4. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia said, “Unfortunately, many Members of Congress — including some in my own party — have decided to use this package as an opportunity to make political statements and propose a bill that goes far beyond pandemic relief and has no chance at becoming law, further delaying the help so many need.”

5. Joe Cunningham of South Carolina called the HEROES Act a “partisan wish list” and “Washington politics at its worst.” He also said, “At a time when our country is in real trouble, we should not be spending precious time on one-sided solutions that aren’t going anywhere.”

6. Abby Finkenauer of Iowa said, “The next federal COVID-19 relief package must be focused on helping families, workers, small businesses and local governments. It needs bipartisan buy-in, and should not be tied up with unrelated provisions. I came to Washington to get things done, and this legislation [referring to the HEROES Act] only serves to push real relief further down the road.”

7. Jared Golden of Maine said, “Today, I will vote against the HEROES Act. This was a difficult decision, because I support many provisions in the bill. However, by significantly expanding the scope of the legislation beyond core, urgent needs and insisting on the inclusion of a series of unrelated provisions, House leaders missed the opportunity to make bipartisan progress on these issues. Our communities desperately need relief, but this bill moves us no closer to delivering that relief.”

8. Kendra Horn of Oklahoma, so I told you a lot of what she said on Friday, but just to take a quick excerpt from that, she said, “Messaging bills without bipartisan support are a disservice to the American people, especially during a time of crisis.”

9. Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania said, “People in western Pennsylvania and all over the country have sacrificed a lot during this crisis. They expect us to put politics aside, work together, and focus on defeating the coronavirus. This bill is not focused, it was rushed to a vote too fast, and it doesn’t help us accomplish that core mission.”

10. Elaine Luria of Virginia said, “This $3 trillion package and the previous relief bills would double federal spending for this year and spending of this scale requires careful consideration and input from all members, not just one party. Congress has a responsibility to work together to deliver results, especially during a public health emergency and an economic crisis. A spending bill of this magnitude must be approached in a bipartisan manner and utilize a transparent process where Democrats and Republicans come together to identify the most impactful solutions.”

11. Ben McAdams of Utah said, “This isn’t a plan, it’s a wish-list. At a time when thousands of people are sick, millions are out of work, and small businesses face bankruptcy, we should be laser-focused on a strategy that opens up business and gets people back to work while also addressing the public health crisis caused by this virus. Republicans and Democrats need to come together on a plan to put this crisis behind us and not waste time with party politics.”

12. Kurt Schrader of Oregon did not tell us why he voted the way he did, but he is one of the more conservative-voting Democrats in the House, so it’s understandable why he may have voted the way he did.

13. Xochitl Torres Small of New Mexico said, “Hard times call for strong priorities, and Congress should put aside partisan politics to rebuild through smart infrastructure investments.”

So those were the thirteen who voted against the HEROES Act because they thought it was too big, too much fluff, or too partisan.

But there is one member of Congress, Representative Pramila Jayapal — and you’ll remember her as one of the ones behind the Automatic BOOST to Communities Act, one of those $2,000 per month plans, well that one actually calls for $2,000 a month for a period and then $1,000 a month for a period after that — anyway she is further left than these other Democratic members of Congress, and here’s what she had to say:

“People across every part of the United States are facing an unprecedented crisis—one that directly impacts their jobs, their health and their daily lives. We have now lost more than 86,000 Americans, almost 30,000 more than we lost during two decades of the Vietnam War. For weeks, I have been clearly and consistently ringing the alarm bells that the next COVID-19 package must deliver real relief and certainty to people and businesses across the country so that they know how they will survive this crisis—both from health and economic perspectives, which are deeply intertwined. At the core, our response from Congress must match the true scale of this devastating crisis. The Heroes Act—while it contains many important provisions—simply fails to do that.”

So the others all brought up partisanship and unnecessary waste, Jayapal doesn’t bring any of that up, she’s saying, we have to stuff this thing with more provisions that Republicans will probably never go for.

Alright, so those are the 14 Democratic members of the House who voted against the HEROES Act this past Friday evening.

Did any of their statements resonate with you?