Lauren Boebert misses vote on debt ceiling deal after vocally opposing it
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert has been an ardent opponent of raising the country’s debt ceiling to avoid default, but she did not cast her vote on the issue Wednesday.
The House passed legislation to raise the government’s debt ceiling on Wednesday just days before a critical deadline that would damage the country’s credit rating and, economists warn, spark a recession. The vote came after days of tense negotiations between House Republicans and President Joe Biden’s administration. The Senate must still pass the measure.
The bill passed 314-117 in the House with bipartisan support, well over the simple majority needed, so Boebert’s vote wouldn’t have been the deciding factor in the matter. But the far-right congresswoman, whose sprawling district covers Colorado’s Western Slope, repeatedly spoke out against the move.
“This country’s financial standing is already on the edge of a cliff,” Boebert wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “This current UNLIMITED debt ceiling increase is the burst of wind that is going to send us right over.”
“Once we fall off that cliff, there’s no going back,” the tweet continued.
A spokesperson for Boebert confirmed that the congresswoman did not intend to miss the vote. She and fellow Colorado Republican Rep. Ken Buck both said in a news conference Tuesday that they would vote against the debt-ceiling deal, Colorado Public Radio reported. Many Republicans criticized the measure, arguing that negotiations with Democrats didn’t do enough to cut government spending.
Buck did cast his nay vote on Wednesday and Colorado’s third House Republican, Rep. Doug Lamborn, voted in favor of raising the debt ceiling.
After missing the vote Boebert released a statement, which reads in part:
“The Swamp did its old song and dance and pretended to listen to the American people, but as soon as the backroom deal was made, it was predetermined that it would pass,” Boebert said. “I certainly wasn’t afraid to vote against the bill, as I have been advocating against it all week.”
A reporter for Axios tweeted that Boebert had narrowly missed the vote and was running up the steps of Congress right as the House closed the vote.
Boebert was not the only representative who didn’t vote on the debt ceiling bill. Jim Banks, Republican of Indiana, Angie Craig, Democrat of Minnesota, and Deborah Ross, Democrat of North Carolina, also did not cast their votes.
Colorado’s Democratic representatives – Yadira Caraveo, Jason Crow, Diana DeGette, Joe Neguse, Brittany Pettersen – all voted in favor of the bill.
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