In the last vote before a 45-day recess, House Republicans voted for a resolution formally criticizing the Biden administration and Kamala Harris for not securing the border. That’s standard politics.
What was less standard were the six Democrats who joined House Republicans to chastise Harris, though their decisions could also boil down to politics.
Of the six Democrats who voted for the resolution, almost all of them are in tough reelection campaigns with serious GOP challengers. The partisan voting index score of each of their districts — essentially a measure of how Republican or Democratic the district is — ranged from nine points in the GOP’s favor to three points in favor of Democrats.
The vote from the Democrat in that last district, the relatively safe D+3 seat of Rep. Henry Cuellar, may be less about his reelection, however. Cuellar is prone to voting with Republicans on immigration issues, though his vote could also have been influenced by the federal indictment he’s facing.
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Either way, when NOTUS reached out to the six Democrats, no one responded. Rep. Jared Golden, however, explained his decision on X.
“I voted today to express that the Biden administration has failed to secure the border,” Goldman posted.
A spokesperson for the campaign arm of House Republicans said it was too late for Democrats.
“Every one of these Democrats voted against securing the border, making them part of the problem, and it’s too late for them to correct the record,” Delanie Bomar said in a statement to NOTUS. “They are all pawns in Kamala Harris’ open border plan, and the voters will hold them accountable for that this November.”
The resolution, which House Republicans adopted Thursday, is the first legislative swipe at Harris since she became the presumptive Democratic nominee.
In remarks before the vote, Rep. Elise Stefanik previewed what will almost certainly become a common GOP attack heading into November.
“I rise to condemn Vice President Kamala Harris for her failed and dangerous policies as Joe Biden’s border czar that caused the most catastrophic border crisis in modern history. No matter what congressional district you go to, the No. 1 issue facing Americans is Kamala Harris’ open border crisis,” Stefanik said on the House floor.
In recent months, Democrats have tried to pin the immigration issue on Republicans, pointing to the bipartisan Senate immigration bill that Republicans tanked.
But the GOP is vigorously trying to paint Harris as the reason for the influx of immigrants crossing the border during Biden’s presidency. The resolution itself calls Harris the “border czar,” even though Harris has explicitly not been in charge of that issue.
Republicans, however, are desperate to connect Harris to the issue, and they argued Thursday she should be held accountable for Biden’s border policies.
So did one of the Democrats who voted for the resolution.
“Vice Presidents execute the president’s agenda,” Golden said in his tweet. “I want to know how Harris, if she becomes POTUS, will address the crisis at the border. I look forward to hearing her plan.”
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Ryan Hernández is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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