OPINION:
A whopping 41 Democrats bucked Rep. Nancy Pelosi, one the most powerful Democrat in the House, and voted Friday for the defense authorization Friday — even though she demanded her colleagues oppose the measure.
House Minority Leader Pelosi led the charge to vote down an increase in Pentagon funding, pushing a Democratic plan to hold spending to limits set in the 2011 budget “sequestration” deal. Herr coalition broke apart and more than three dozen abandoned her.
Speaker John Boehner said the 142 Democrats who opposed the legislation are “letting politics come before national security. With all the threats our troops face and the sacrifices they make, Democrats’ opposition to this defense bill is in fact indefensible,” he said.
“Many Democrats turned around and opposed fully funding our troops,” he added. “They did so without listing a single serious policy concern, letting politics come before national security. With all the threats our troops face and the sacrifices they make, Democrats’ opposition to this defense bill is in fact indefensible.”
But the bottom line for many of the 41 defectors is that they are in vulnerable districts that rely on defense spending for job.
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