Texas GOP split on Trump ideas
President Donald Trump’s final legislative acts of 2020 have splintered the ranks of Texas Republicans in Congress.
Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act, which funds the state’s 15 military bases, and his demand for bigger stimulus checks for Americans prompted many of the Texans who typically support the president to oppose him on both fronts.
Half the state’s 22 Republicans in the House voted to override Trump’s veto of the NDAA, while eight others voted no, and three did not vote.
It was the first time in his four years in office that Trump had been overridden on a veto.
After Trump called for increasing stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000, just six of the 22
Texas Republicans supported his proposal.
The votes left some of Trump’s most ardent Republican supporters trying to explain how a vote against the president actually was a vote for him and his legacy.
Rep. Kevin Brady, R-the Woodlands, took to social media to say Trump deserves credit for building the military back up, and that he simply was defending the president’s record by joining the effort to override his veto.
“I voted today to preserve his historic legacy of military strength, and supported the NDAA & our troops,” Brady said.
Brady also voted against Trump’s call for $2,000 stimulus checks, arguing it wouldn’t revive the economy and get people back to work.
Brady has sided with Trump more than 96 percent of the time on legislation, more than almost every other Republican from Texas, according to an analysis by Fivethirtyeight, the politics and polling website.
Yet, Brady found himself going against Trump on both the defense bill and the stimulus checks.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-texas, told reporters this week that Trump should focus on the positive things added to the COVID-19 stimulus package as a result of White House negotiations.
The debate over the $2,000 checks Trump has demanded “undermines” those accomplishments, Cornyn said.
On Wednesday, Cornyn was even more forceful in opposing Trump’s call for larger checks,
saying some of the money would flow to people who have not lost their jobs and who may not need any help.
He said families making more than $300,000 a year could receive the checks.
“This money is not targeted to people who’ve suffered financial losses,” Cornyn said in a speech on the Senate floor.
Cornyn also has expressed strong support for overriding Trump’s veto of the NDAA, al
though he told his fellow senators that the president’s objections to the bill “are not frivolous at all.”
Cornyn pointed out the NDAA supports the U.S. military around the globe, provides for their families and includes pay raises for service personnel.
Sen. Ted Cruz previously had voted against the NDAA, citing his frustrations with items added by the House, including a commission to rename military bases named for Confederate figures,
such as Fort Hood in Killeen.
The Senate is expected to vote on both pieces of legislation this week.
Just one Texas Republican in the House voted with Trump on both the NDAA and the stimulus checks: Rep. Michael Burgess, RLewisville.
“Americans are hurting,” he said of the proposed $2,000 checks. “This coronavirus has affected more than our physical health. Americans have suffered from job and financial losses.”
But other Texas Republicans say the money isn’t targeted to those in need.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-houston, said the problem with sending $2,000 checks to more than 150 million Americans is that many of the would-be recipients haven’t lost jobs or income.
“I would say we shouldn’t be spending taxpayer money on people who have not had any change in income all year,” Crenshaw said before voting against the $2,000 payments.
Brady offered a similar explanation for voting against the larger checks. He said he worried that people would use the money to pay down credit card debt or make purchases on Amazon or at Walmart.
“The fact is, it’s hard to stimulate a main street that’s been locked down by local politicians,” Brady said during the floor debate in the House.
Six Texas Republicans in the House supported Trump’s call for $2,000 checks were Reps. Will Hurd of San Antonio, Bill Flores of Bryan, Kaygranger of Fort Worth, Michael Mccaul of Austin, Pete Olson of Sugarland and Burgess.
The eight Texas Republicans who voted with Trumpon his veto of the Ndaawere: Reps. Jodey Arrington of Lubbock, Brian Babin of Woodville, Mike Cloud of Victoria, Louie Gohmert of Tyler, Lance Gooden of Terrell, Chip Roy of Austin, Randy Weber of Friendswood and Burgess.
While the votes divided Republicans, the 13 Texas Democrats in Congress were on the same page. All voted to override the president on the NDAA, and all voted for the $2,000 stimulus checks.