New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is furious over Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell supposedly killing a House bill that she vigorously opposed.
The congresswoman warned her party’s leadership Thursday in a tweet that “under no circumstance should the House vote for a McDonnell-only bill with no negotiations with Democrats. Hell no.” Ocasio-Cortez called that “an abdication of power.”
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks during a meeting of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform June 12, 2019 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Under no circumstances should the House vote for a McConnell-only bill w/ no negotiation with Democrats. Hell no.
That’s an abdication of power we should refuse to accept. They will keep hurting kids if we do.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 27, 2019
Despite Ocasio-Cortez’s challenge, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a majority of Democrats decided to compromise and backed the Senate bill, rebuking the more liberal members of the party. (RELATED: Migrant Aid Bill Is Reportedly Cutting The Democrats In Two)
But even though Ocasio-Cortez voted against the initial House bill that the Senate torpedoed, the congresswoman was suddenly lauding the legislation.
When asked by CNN about all the apparent outrage, Ocasio-Cortez explained, “This is an issue not just of the substance of the bill but also the process of how we got here.”
“We passed a House version of this bill which had far more humanitarian provisions and accountability for the facilities that are abusing our kids at our border and Mitch McConnell immediately smacked it down in order to pass a Senate bill that has an enormous amount of funding for [the] military” she continued. (RELATED: Democratic Mayor: ‘We Are Sick And Tired’ Of Government Inaction On Illegal Immigration)
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell takes his seat to introduce Kelly Craft to testify before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on her nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on Capitol Hill in Washington U.S., June 19, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
CNN host Jake Tapper asked, “But congresswoman, didn’t you vote against the House bill as well?”
“I did, I did,” she responded.
On Monday night, Ocasio-Cortez was insisting she could never support the Pelosi-supported emergency assistance bill.
“I will not fund another dime to allow ICE to continue its manipulative tactics,” she said, as she walked to Pelosi’s office, according to The New York Times.
Over the weekend, Ocasio-Cortez teamed up with other “progressive congresswomen” — colleagues like Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan — to issue a news release demanding the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and zero funding for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The GOP has supported building mass concentration camps on the southern border. Kids & families are dying.
Now they want money for more – w/ ZERO negotiation on how $ is spent.
We can’t do that. They‘ve shown that when they get more money, they build more camps. #CloseTheCamps https://t.co/DYhXuU9Crz
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 22, 2019
The communique called ICE and the CBP “radicalized, criminal agencies” that “are destroying families and killing innocent children.”