I recently wrote to my congressional representative, Jaime Herrera Beutler, criticizing her “No” vote on the recent bipartisan infrastructure legislation. In her response, she stated “I support funding for roads, bridges, rural broadband, upgrades …” but she still voted against the bill because it is (somehow) “inextricably” linked to some other, as yet unpassed, piece of legislation: specifically the social welfare and climate bill still being debated in Congress.
So can someone explain to me how two independent bills, one passed and one not passed (yet) are so inextricably linked that our representative felt the need to vote against something she clearly claims to support? A bill which she says she “helped played (sic) a leading role in shaping the traditional infrastructure priorities that guided major portions of this bill.”
It seems to me that this was a pure-and-simple partisan “vote against the Democrats” act by our representative where she placed party before her constituents. This is why we need someone new who will represent the interests of her district and constituents, not just those of her party.
