House passes $787B economic stimulus bill

The House passed a massive economic stimulus bill 246-183 on Friday after a partisan debate, moving the legislation one step closer to President Obama’s desk.

The conference measure, which was approved mostly along party lines, will be voted on Friday evening in the Senate, where it is expected to pass. All voting Republicans in the House rejected the bill and all but eight Democrats approved the legislation, with Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.) voting “present.”

{mosads}The seven Democrats who rejected the bill were Reps. Bobby Bright (Ala.), Peter DeFazio (Ore.), Parker Griffith (Ala.), Walt Minnick (Idaho), Collin Peterson (Minn.), Heath Shuler (N.C.) and Gene Taylor (Miss.). Each of these lawmakers — except for DeFazio — rejected the House stimulus bill late last month. Every voting Republican opposed that legislation as well.

In her Friday speech on the floor, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the vote “historic and transformational” while also taking a shot at Republican critics, saying they support a “do-nothing approach.” Pelosi also praised Obama for his leadership on the stimulus package, which is now estimated to cost $787 billion.

The bill includes more than $50 billion to help states with their budget deficits, including money that will be available for school construction projects, $27.5 billion for highway initiatives and $8.4 billion for public transportation.

Republicans objected to the spending, which they decried as wasteful and non-stimulative. Echoing Obama’s words, Democrats defended it, saying that government spending is what the economy needs.

In the hours leading up to the vote, Democratic and Republican leaders aggressively lobbied their members on the bill.

On Friday morning, Rep. Joseph Cao (R-La.) told The Hill that he was leaning toward backing the measure, noting he had been contacted by the White House. Cao represents a district that Obama won with 74 percent of the vote, according to data compiled by swingstateproject.com.

But GOP leaders persuaded Cao and other centrist Republicans to vote no. After the House vote last month, a handful of Republicans — including Reps. Pete King (N.Y.), John McHugh (N.Y.) and Jim Gerlach (Pa.) — hinted they would likely approve the final conference report.

It is unclear if the GOP stand against the bill will prove to be politically wise, but it shows that House Republicans are united behind their leaders.

Much of Friday’s debate centered on how quickly the 1,027-page conference report was brought to the House floor. Members on both sides of the aisle had little time to read the bill after the text of it was released late on Thursday. On Feb. 10, the House unanimously approved a non-binding motion that called for members to have at least 48 hours to review the measure before voting on it. In an apparent protest of how Democratic leaders managed the bill, a group of House Democrats on Friday voted against the rule bringing the conference bill to the floor.

Democrats who voted against the House bill in January but approved the conference report on Friday are Reps. Allen Boyd (Fla.), Jim Cooper (Tenn.), Brad Ellsworth (Ind.), Paul Kanjorski (Pa.) and Frank Kratovil (Md.).

Reps. John Campbell (R-Calif.), James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Chris Lee (R-N.Y.) did not vote on the conference bill. Clyburn, the majority whip, did not attend the vote because his daughter is getting married on Saturday.

At a press conference after the vote, a smiling Pelosi said, “[Clyburn] had to get to the church on time.”

Kristie Greco, spokeswoman for Clyburn, said the South Carolina legislator led the whipping effort despite having to leave around 1 p.m.

“We had our whip count before he left,” Greco said.

This article was updated at 3:56 p.m.