34 House Republicans Defy Trump and Support Puerto Rico Disaster Bill

BY Todd Neikirk May 14, 2019

Democratic control of the House has made Donald Trump’s second two years in office much more difficult than his first two. House Democrats have not only held Congressional hearings, they’ve also been able to push through new legislation.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – OCTOBER 19: (AFP-OUT) President Donald Trump speaks with Governor Ricardo Rossello of Puerto Rico during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House on October 19, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Trump and Rossello spoke about the continuing recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)

The House, yesterday, voted on a bill that would give additional aid to Puerto Rico’s disaster recovery efforts. Despite President Trump asking them not too, 34 Congressional Republicans sided with Democrats on the vote.

Trump had previously tweeted about the bill, “House Republicans should not vote for the BAD DEMOCRAT Disaster Supplemental Bill which hurts our States, Farmers & Border Security. Up for vote tomorrow. We want to do much better than this. All sides keep working and send a good BILL for immediate signing!”

House Republicans should not vote for the BAD DEMOCRAT Disaster Supplemental Bill which hurts our States, Farmers & Border Security. Up for vote tomorrow. We want to do much better than this. All sides keep working and send a good BILL for immediate signing!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 9, 2019

In the end, however, multiple Republicans chose to spurn the president and vote for the bill. Many of those conservatives who supported the bill were from states who have recently dealt with natural disasters themselves.

The list is as follows: Rick Allen(Ga.), Don Bacon (Neb.), Gus Bilirakis (Fla.), Michael Bost (Ill.), Buddy Carter (Ga.), Dan Crenshaw (Texas), Mario Diaz-Balart(Fla.), Neal Dunn (Fla.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Jeff Fortenberry (Neb.), Sam Graves (Mo.),Richard Hudson (N.C.), Will Hurd (Texas), Dusty Johnson (S.D.), John Katko (N.Y.), Steve King (Iowa), Pete King (N.Y.), Adam Kizinger (Ill.), Doug LaMalfa (Calif.), McCaul, David McKinley (W.Va.), Dan Newhouse (Wash.), Tom Reed (N.Y.), Tom Rice (S.C.), Martha Roby (Ala.), David Rouzer (N.C.), Austin Scott (Ga.), Adrien Smith (Neb.), Chris Smith(N.J.), Ross Spano (Fla.), Elise Stefanek(N.Y.), Steve Stivers (Ohio),Fred Upton (Mich.) and Greg Walden(Ore.).

Michael McCaul of Texas, said of the bill, “”I will always support legislation that prioritizes the needs of my district.”

President Trump has yet to comment on Republican support for the bill.