These 69 Democrats Just Voted for the GOP’s Disaster Bill. Here’s Why That’s Not Nice.

The end of the year is known for snowmen, caroling, holiday celebrations with family and friends, and terrible legislation from Congress.

End-of-year spending bills over the past few years have had an assortment of toxic riders, a result of Congressional Republicans using the leverage they had in negotiations. 2014’s CRomnibus (Continuing Resolution — omnibus) was a great example.

However, the final bills of this year (after the Republican’s donor wish list of a tax bill) have gotten more attention for what they don’t do than for what they do.

The short-term Continuing Resolution passed on Thursday failed to provide a full reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which lapsed at the end of September. CHIP provides health coverage for 9 million children and 370,000 pregnant women across the country. Sixteen states were set to run out of funding by January. The CR only extends funding through March, guaranteeing no real stability for states or families.

The short-term CR also failed to provide legal protections for Dreamers, who were brought to the United States without documents as children and are at risk with the lapse of the Deferred Action (DACA) program (and Trump’s ramped-up deportation agenda). Guaranteeing legal protections to Dreamers is popular — and it’s the right thing to do.

As Republicans see it, if CHIP beneficiaries and Dreamers wanted stability, they should have donated millions to Republican campaign coffers. Or something like that.

Getting less attention was the CR’s extension of Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act, which allows for warrantless surveillance of US citizens’ emails. Santa’s not the only one watching you this December. Trump is, too.

Progressive activists had been pressuring Congressional Democrats to grow a backbone and reject a CR like this — one that flies against professed Democratic principles.

Although House Democratic Leadership urged members to vote NO, 14 voted for it anyway. The short-term CR passed 231 to 188.

The 14 Democrats who abandoned Dreamers (and children, and civil liberties) to vote for it: Sanford Bishop (GA-02), Cheri Bustos (IL-17), Jim Costa (CA-16), Charlie Crist (FL-13), John Delaney (MD-06), Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), Al Lawson (FL-05), Dave Loebsack (IA-02), Stephanie Murphy (FL-07), Tom O’Halleran (AZ-01), Raul Ruiz (CA-36), Brad Schneider (IL-10), Terri Sewell (AL-07), and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09).

Note that Sinema is running for Senate in Arizona, a state with one of the largest populations of Dreamers.

The House also passed a meager disaster relief package along with the CR. The bill in particular short-changed Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Medicaid is on track to run out of money early next year. This would leave 900,000 Puerto Ricans without health insurance.

And that’s not all, as House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (MD-05) outlines:

In Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, many citizens still lack access to basic services like clean water and electricity. It has been more than three months since Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the islands, but little has been done to help our fellow Americans recover from these storms. The bill does not include important local cost-share waivers for Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands. Congress has previously waived local-cost share requirements following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

In addition, the supplemental does little for the many states, such as New York and Florida, who have welcomed displaced individuals and families from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Previous disaster supplementals have essentially held those states harmless for the costs of welcoming displaced individuals and helping them access health care, education, and housing. The supplemental only includes funding for the education part of that commitment.

Hoyer and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA-12) had urged their caucus to vote against the disaster package in order to secure a better bargain for Puerto Rico.

69 members of their caucus did not listen, and the package sailed through 251–169, reliant on Democratic votes for passage.

Here are the 69:

Alma Adams (NC-12)

Pete Aguilar (CA-31)

Ami Bera (CA-07)

Sanford Bishop (GA-02)

Julia Brownley (CA-26)

Cheri Bustos (IL-17)

G. K. Butterfield (NC-01)

Salud Carbajal (CA-24)

Kathy Castor (FL-14)

Joaquin Castro (TX-20)

Gerry Connolly (VA-11)

Jim Cooper (TN-05)

Jim Costa (CA-16)

Charlie Crist (FL-13)

Henry Cuellar (TX-28)

Susan Davis (CA-53)

Pete DeFazio (OR-04)

John Delaney (MD-06)

Suzan DelBene (WA-01)

Val Demings (FL-10)

Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11)

Ted Deutch (FL-21)

Lois Frankel (FL-22)

Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02)

John Garamendi (CA-03)

Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15)

Al Green (TX-09)

Alcee Hastings (FL-20)

Jim Himes (CT-04)

Jared Huffman (CA-02)

Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18)

E.B. Johnson (TX-30)

Derek Kilmer (WA-06)

Raj Krishnamoorthi (IL-08)

Annie Kuster (NH-02)

Rick Larsen (WA-02)

Al Lawson (FL-05)

Ted Lieu (CA-33)

Dan Lipinski (IL-03)

Dave Loebsack (IA-02)

Alan Lowenthal (CA-47)

Doris Matsui (CA-06)

Jerry McNerney (CA-09)

Stephanie Murphy (FL-07)

Rick Nolan (MN-08)

Tom O’Halleran (AZ-01)

Beto O’Rourke (TX-16)

Jimmy Panetta (CA-20)

Scott Peters (CA-52)

Collin Peterson (MN-07)

David Price (NC-04)

Jacky Rosen (NV-03)

Raul Ruiz (CA-36)

Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02)

Adam Schiff (CA-28)

Brad Schneider (IL-10)

David Scott (GA-13)

Terri Sewell (AL-07)

Brad Sherman (CA-30)

Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09)

Darren Soto (FL-09)

Mark Takano (CA-41)

Mike Thompson (CA-05)

Marc Veasey (TX-33)

Filemon Vela (TX-34)

Pete Visclosky (IN-01)

Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23)

Maxine Waters (CA-43)

Frederica Wilson (FL-24)

The abandonment of Puerto Rico reminded me of the bipartisan abandonment of Flint, which — like Puerto Rico — still lacks clean water.

The Senate combined the two bills and passed the joint package 66–32. 18 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus (or one-third) voted for it:

Tom Carper (D-DE)

Chris Coons (D-DE)

Joe Donnelly (D-IN)

Maggie Hassan (D-NH)

Martin Heinrich (D-NM)

Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)

Tim Kaine (D-VA)

Angus King (I-ME)

Pat Leahy (D-VT)

Joe Manchin (D-WV)

Claire McCaskill (D-MO)

Bill Nelson (D-FL)

Gary Peters (D-MI)

Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)

Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)

Jon Tester (D-MT)

Tom Udall (D-NM)

Mark Warner (D-VA)

Note the inclusion of 2016 Democratic VP candidate Tim Kaine, who was widely touted for his Spanish-speaking skills, in the list of Democrats who abandoned Dreamers.