How WA Congressional Delegation Voted On Government Funding Bill

BELLEVUE, WA - Congress and President Donald Trump reached an agreement this week on a government spending bill that includes $1.4 billion in funding for pieces of a barrier at the U.S.-Mexico border, among many other things.

The House held a vote on the measure on Thursday that passed 300-128. The bill was divisive, forcing Democratic legislators opposed to Trump's immigration agenda to choose between keeping the government open - and protecting federal workers - and helping the president's crusade to build a border wall.

"I am deeply concerned that House Democrats were blocked from imposing critical limits on Trump’s mass deportation force, leaving the door open to allow the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to ramp up detention beyond levels approved by Congress. DHS has already taken hundreds of millions of dollars from disaster relief to waste on detention," Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal said in a statement. "Congress must pass a strong DHS appropriations bill to bring accountability and humanity to our detention system. Unfortunately, this bill did not accomplish this and that is why I will vote no."

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Renton, voted for the bill citing the need to prevent another government shutdown.

"This [bill] is far from perfect, but it must be passed for the sake of all that it supports: many dozens of government agencies and initiatives, hundreds of thousands of federal employees, and the American public that is served by those workers and agencies. There is an endless array of federal workers who perform incredibly important duties for all of us every day; if this bill doesn’t pass, they don’t get paid and those services aren’t provided," he said in a statement.

Here's how each member of Washington's Congressional delegation voted:

• Adam Smith, D-Bellevue - Yes
• Pramila Jayapa, D-Seattle - No
• Suzan DelBene, D-Redmond - Yes
• Kim Schrier, D-Issaquah - Yes
• Rick Larsen, D-Everett - Yes
• Derek Kilmer, D-Bremerton - Yes
• Denny Heck, D-Olympia - Yes
• Dan Newhouse, R-Yakima - Yes
• Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane - Yes
• Jaime Herrera-Beutler, R-Vancouver - Yes

Caption: Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash, reacts as Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker tells Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., that his time has expired as he appears before the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, Friday, Feb. 8, 2019, in Washington.

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik