Rep. Martin Stutzman, a Republican congressman for Indiana, said he wouldn’t have been one of the deciding vote factors that led to the passage of the $1.1 trillion budget bill — except that his GOP leadership duped him.
Mr. Stutzman and Rep. Kerry Bentivolio, outgoing Republican from Michigan, both switched their votes from nay to yay on a procedural rule that advanced the bill and brought it to its ultimate 214-212 passage. But Mr. Stutzman said the only reason he switched was that he was told that Republican leadership planned to pull the massive measure and substitute in a short-term spending bill that would be more palatable to conservatives, The Hill reported.
“I supported the rule because I was informed by leadership that the cromnibus was dead and a short term CR [continuing resolution] would take its place,” Mr. Stutzman said shortly after the vote, The Hill reported. “I was very surprised and even more disappointed to see the crominibus back on the floor. The American people deserve better.”
He also said the massive spending plan “fails to include many of the solutions that could have been passed in January with a Republican House and Senate in an open process,” The Hill reported.
An aide for GOP leadership denied to The Hill that Mr. Stutzman’s account of his voting process, and said Speaker John Boehner never actually spoke to him about the bill.
“We don’t know what he is talking about,” the aide said, The Hill reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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