Congressman Kevin Yoder of Kansas and Congressmen Billy Long and Jason Smith of Missouri broke with the Republican Party, casting ‘no’ votes on a budget deal that ended a very brief government shutdown this morning. They were among 67 Republicans who voted against the deal.
In a statement, Yoder said the deal busted budget caps set in place in 2011 with massive spending increases at all levels of government.
“I voted no,” he said. “Rather than looking for ways to reduce spending and make government more efficient or reprioritizing spending to things that really matter like our veterans, our military or medical research at the National Institutes of Health, this budget will raise the baseline of spending across the board for generations to come.”
The government was shuttered for a few hours after midnight on Friday morning, after a budget deal stalled in the U.S. Senate Thursday night. Senators approved the deal early Friday morning, and then the U.S. House of Representatives voted shortly after 5 a.m. to re-open the government. Seventy-three House Democrats broke with their party to vote in favor of the budget agreement, helping attain the votes necessary to re-open the government.
“In Washington, spending only goes one direction–up. That’s why holding the line on spending increases is so important,” Yoder said. “It’s become next to impossible to cut even the most useless programs, so stopping increases is sometimes the only attainable victory.”
Yoder, who serves on the House Appropriations committee, said despite his vote against the legislation, he will work to ensure that the new spending is used for the highest priorities of his constituents.
