🚨 The House has PASSED the DHS appropriations bill with a 220-207 vote.

[demmiblue]

🚨 The House has PASSED the DHS appropriations bill with a 220-207 vote.

7 Democrats voted YES:
Cuellar (TX)
Golden (ME)
Gillen (NY)
Gluesenkamp Perez (WA)
Davis (NC)
Suozzi (NY)
Gonzalez (TX)

The bill now goes to the Senate, floor vote expected *next week*

— 5 Calls (@5calls.org) 2026-01-22T21:51:01.423Z

DHS funding bill passes:

220 yes / 207 no

Seven Democrats voted yes.

Do the math, and you’ll see why it matters that @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social chose not to whip the vote.

— Leah McElrath (@leahmcelrath.bsky.social) 2026-01-22T21:51:31.362Z

[Scrivener7]

1. God damn it.

[Chasstev365]

2. Those 7 Democrats just voted to fund the Gestapo!

Unreal!

[demmiblue]

4. Yep.

“They’re terrified of being labeled anti–law enforcement,” said a Hill source tracking the legislation. “They want this to go away so they can talk about the cost of living more. Problem is, it’s not going away.”

[Dave says]

60. Jeffries needs to go

We would've lost anyway, but we should've seen a unanimous vote amongst the Democrats. This will lose votes for us in the midterms.

[mr715]

68. We wouldn't be whipped by the GOP

It wouldn't be our votes providing the majority. We wouldn't be doing their job for them, while they sit on the sidelines.

[choie]

3. oh I'm sure the Dems who voted "yes""

had really good reasons to do so, right?

Waiting for the explanations/excuses.

[purr-rat beauty]

5. Time for new Reps

We can't give in

[CanonRay]

6. Seven cowards.

They need to be replaced by Dems who care about democracy

[SocialDemocrat61]

11. 7 out of over 200

is about 3%.

[leftstreet]

13. That makes it even worse

If half the body had pledged to vote yes, there's not much he could have done

But 7 reps? SEVEN?!

He's either incompetent or complicit. This was the moment to read the room, and give those 6+ million reliable Democratic voters who showed up for Biden, but not Harris, a reason to come back to the fold

[SocialDemocrat61]

19. 97% of democrats voted against it

Not a bad retention rate.

[leftstreet]

24. LOL maybe they'll get off social media now

Absolutely littering public media spaces the last few days with their fundraising faux outrage "I WILL NOT VOTE FOR THIS BY GOLLY. ICE BAD ICE BAD"

LOL

[SocialDemocrat61]

26. Blame the 7 who did

Blaming anyone else is just looking for an excuse to bash the whole party.

[leftstreet]

27. No leadership n/t

[SocialDemocrat61]

29. So instead of blaming the 7

bash the black man. Interesting.

[leftstreet]

31. LOL that didn't take long n/t

[SocialDemocrat61]

35. No it never takes long

for a black man to be blamed.

[leftstreet]

37. You calling me racist?

[SocialDemocrat61]

41. Not calling you anything

just pointing out that the 7 who voted should be blamed and not look for reasons to blame a black man.

[whathehell]

83. No one is "looking for a reason to blame a black man"

His actions as the Dem House Minority leader are what's being critiqued, and for understandable reasons...It's criticism anyone in his position would face under the circumstances.
,

[SocialDemocrat61]

84. He voted against the bill

Why not blame the 7 who voted for it instead?

[whathehell]

86. I do blame them..

but as the leader he had a special part to play called "whipping the vote" that he refused to do, so some are questioning his leadership abilities.
You may be interested to know that he's been criticized for this before and I've been one of those defendending him.

[SocialDemocrat61]

87. Is there any proof

whipping the vote would have changed the outcome? Has any of the 7 who voted for the bill would have voted differently had the vote been whipped? If not, then it's just looking for an excuse to blame Jeffries for the actions of others.

[whathehell]

90. You don't seem to be 'getting it', but I suspect

that's intentional, so as to avoid giving up a preconceived and baseless notion. With that said, I'll just be saying good night and good luck.

[SocialDemocrat61]

91. Good night to you

[choie]

73. Leftstreet

try as you might, some have to defend leadership, no matter what. Never fails.

[Dave says]

63. We've given the coming bot-swarms ammunition to tear into us

[SocialDemocrat61]

69. That's true

Russian bots on Facebook and Blusky love blaming democrats for everything.

[W_HAMILTON]

93. Which is the type of bullshit that got us to the point where ICE is being used as fascist Trump's personal gestapo.

But the people that hockey-assisted Republicans into power by continually bashing Democrats, they never seem to learn...

...or maybe it's a feature and not a bug.

[SocialDemocrat61]

95. I miss the days when

people came to this forum to support democrats instead of blaming them for everything.

[Polybius]

88. You're too positive

Those 7 caused it to pass.

[Autumn]

61. It's always just enough to vote and give the Repiglicans what they want.

[SocialDemocrat61]

89. 3 would have been just enough.

based on the final vote

[mr715]

17. Worth a whip. nt

[SocialDemocrat61]

18. And you think that would have made a difference?

[mr715]

22. Did we provide the majority? nt

[SocialDemocrat61]

25. No

7 democrats voted for it and let’s blame them and not anyone else.

[mr715]

28. Had those 7 voted differently

what would the numbers be? I legit do not know. I can't find the final vote tallies.

[SocialDemocrat61]

30. And they should be blamed for it

Not anyone else.

[mr715]

33. Please, do you have the vote tally?

Because you can't make the argument that whipping doesn't matter, when we are getting whipped by the GOP.

Did their Reps get to vote present?

Why were our votes required to pass this bill when they have the majority?

[SocialDemocrat61]

39. You can't make the argument

that whipping would have mattered unless you can prove those 7 democrats would have voted differently. Has anyone of them been quoted that they would have voted differently if they had been whipped?

[mr715]

40. Please tell me if GOP members

were absent or voted present. I cannot find this information.

[SocialDemocrat61]

42. 1 voted against

and 4 were not present. The info was in the op.

[mr715]

44. Okay.

So had the Democrats voted unanimously, this bill would have failed.

SocialDemocrat61, you can predict exactly the argument I am going to make, so I will spare you it again.

[SocialDemocrat61]

46. And 7 didn't

Blame them. No one else.

[mr715]

47. Please do not tell me who to blame.

I do not want division between us and, again, you know exactly how I feel on this matter.

I respect you enough to try not to harp on loggerheads.

My blame can contain multitudes. Please do not tell me who to blame.

[SocialDemocrat61]

48. Ok. The info was in the op

7 Democrats voted YES:
Cuellar (TX)
Golden (ME)
Gillen (NY)
Gluesenkamp Perez (WA)
Davis (NC)
Suozzi (NY)
Gonzalez (TX)

Blame them.

[mr715]

49. Please do not tell me who to blame.

You are correct the info was the OP. I appreciate you showing that to me.

[SocialDemocrat61]

54. So you want to blame

those who voted against the bill instead? Interesting. Seems counterproductive.

[mr715]

55. Please do not tell me who to blame.

I have been nothing but respectful to you.

[SocialDemocrat61]

57. I'm just curious

as to why you want to blame those who voted against the bill instead of blaming the 7 who voted for it.

[mr715]

58. Please don't tell me who to blame.

[SocialDemocrat61]

62. I'm telling you who voted for the bill

and therefore is to blame. It’s reality. But if you want to blame someone else, maybe President Obama or someone else. Go right ahead.

[mr715]

64. Please don't tell me who to blame.

I would very much appreciate, as a personal courtesy to the human being that I am behind this computer screen, to let me have the last word here.

[SocialDemocrat61]

67. Blame whoever you like

Blame Biden or Bill Clinton or JFK. Blame Whoever you like. Maybe Winston Churchill as well.

I just think it’s more constructive to blame republicans and the 7 democrats who voted for the bill.

[mr715]

70. Please don't tell me who to blame.

[SocialDemocrat61]

71. You're free to blame whoever you like

I just rather blame those who are actually responsible who voted for the bill.

[mr715]

72. Please don't tell me who to blame.

[SocialDemocrat61]

74. Never said you couldn't

I just prefer to blame those who voted for the bill.

[mr715]

76. Can someone, anyone, help please? nt

[SocialDemocrat61]

77. Something wrong?

What do you need help with?

[haele]

8. So, they voted for "Better Training and Body Cameras"

Like that's going to suddenly turn a bunch of J6ers or their wannabe compatriots who are too stupid to get through Boot Camp or a Police Academy into upstanding, conscientious Police focused on the Constitution as well as Law and Order.
Just means they'll say "oops, excuse me, Ma'am" instead of "F'ing B***h" after they only shoot once.

[leftstreet]

9. That's all Hitler's SS needed

They were just poorly trained and had no body camera tech

[mr715]

10. We own this now. We provided the majority.

Lovely ending.

[Quiet Em]

12. If they all voted yes, the bill still passes 220-214.

220-215 with Massie included.

We are outnumbered in the House. We need to win back the House in 26.

[mr715]

14. So 7 Republicans voted Present?

If Dems voted in a bloc, that'd reduce the majority figure by 7, to 213.

The minority figure (214) would increase by 7?

Am I mathing wrong?

[Quiet Em]

20. I think I'm mathing wrong.

Not much sleep last night.

[mr715]

21. May you sleep well tonight.

[Quiet Em]

23. thank you!

[Fiendish Thingy]

50. 220 minus 7 equals 213

So the final vote would have been 213 yay 214 nay, if the total in the OP is correct.

[Quiet Em]

59. Yeah, worked that out with Mr715

My math wasn't mathing.

[mr715]

65. Neither was mine.

The end result was the same point though.

Sigh.

[Quiet Em]

15. Golden is on his way out the door,

Cuellar had his district redrawn and he will probably be replaced by a Trumper, Suozzi is consistently on the wrong side of issues, I don't know much about Gillen, but Long Island tells me a bit, I don't know the other three at all.

[Celerity]

81. Cuellar's district will actually be more Blue than it was before the new maps.

It has never, in its history, went Rethug.

Rep. Cuellar says new Texas map makes his district more Democratic

https://www.kgns.tv/2025/08/25/rep-cuellar-says-new-texas-map-makes-his-district-more-democratic/

WEBB COUNTY, Tex. (KGNS) - U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar said he is not pleased with the redistricting bill approved by the Texas Senate early Saturday, August 23, but acknowledged the changes could strengthen his political standing. Cuellar, a Democrat representing Texas’ 28th Congressional District, told KGNS the newly drawn boundaries would add areas he has represented in the past.

“When you look at the numbers, they actually make my district two points Democratic, and I always do better than the national and state Democrats in my district,” Cuellar said. “I don’t like what they did, but if you look at my district, they actually make it more Democratic.” Under the proposal, Cuellar’s district would gain parts of Hidalgo County and La Salle County, while losing sections of Bexar and Guadalupe counties.

Cuellar has been the worst Dem in the House for years, he is a rabid forced-birther, he is anti-trans, he has campaigned for and fundraised for a Rethug House member (John Carter, a MAGAt election denialist and climate change denier) over the Dem candidate MJ Hegar, he is in the tank for Big Oil and for Big Private Prisons for ages, he is pro ICE, voted for the racist Laken Riley Act, he repeatedly attacked Biden for years in immigration, energy, etc (especially on Fox News and other RW outlets), he was a big supporter of the Rethug SAVE ACT, which would rat-fuck us in all federal elections.

He would very likely be going to prison himself on corruption charges, but now Trump pardoned him, so there are obviously serious issues there.

In 2018 he fired a pregnant staffer who had requested parental leave and subsequently suffered a miscarriage, and according to court documents, subsequently urged other staffers to help him discredit her.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/henry-cuellar-abortion-pregant-staffer-b2075163.html

Twice a great, non RW Dem in Jessica Cisneros almost beat him, but Pelosi, Clyburn, Hoyer, etc, plus the Blue Dogs and Problem Solvers, and AIPAC, etc helped to bigfoot her, and he squeaked out 2 primary wins (by only 289 votes in 2022). Pelosi, Clyburn, Hoyer etc endorsed him even knowing he had been raided by the FBI (part of the Biden DOJ).

In 2024, Pelosi, Katherine Clark, Jim Clyburn, Steny Hoyer, Hakeem Jeffries, etc, all endorsed him, even after the Biden DOJ formally indicted him on on money laundering, conspiracy, and bribery charges, and set trial for September 2025 (later moved to April 2026, but then Trump pardoned him in December 2025.) Cisneros did not even run again when all of leadership jumped on the Cuellar train.

She declined to run in 2026 as well.

[W_HAMILTON]

94. I don't like Cuellar very much, but if a progressive can't even win the Democratic primary there...

... there is zero chance a progressive would win the general.

The district itself has had a small Republican lean in recent years and whether Cuellar chooses to run has been what has, for the Cook Report, swung the district from lean Republican to toss-up -- which Cuellar then proceeded to win.

[yaesu]

16. I brave republican, 7 turncoat dems. nt

[appmanga]

32. This is why my wallet is closed.

How hard can it be to say you can't fund an agency that allows masked, unaccountable goons to trample over the Constitution? If you can't sell that, you shouldn't be in politics.

[Fiendish Thingy]

34. Just as I predicted earlier today

Blue Dogs, Problem Solvers and Cuellar- most from safe blue districts.

[mr715]

36. Whipable? nt

[Fiendish Thingy]

51. Depends on who the whip is

A good whip can use various types of threats, er, leverage, to gain compliance.

[mr715]

52. Theoretically whipable.

Because since GOP members didn't vote, it seems to me that we did their job for them.

[Traildogbob]

38. Rumsfeld

Told our troops that went to die for us with an Afghan enemy , with mass destructive weapons against us, shooting back at us, were told “you go to war with what you have”. Totally under funded.
They were sent to war without vests, ammo, armor plates on vehicles. Family sent their children vest to save their lives.
But These assholes are given a limitless credit card to kill our civilians right here on our soul.
They have burned through hundreds of billions in less than a year, for everything they dream of, with stays at Hilton’s, SUV’s, trucks and not a single thug without a vest and the finest of weapons. Plus 2 jets for Barbie.
To kill Americans and children. Fuck those 7 to hell.

[SSJVegeta]

43. Rs have 218 votes and they omly lost one.

Even if Jeffries whipped the vote GOP wouldve jsut held the vote at a time when their other 5 members were available.

[RoseTrellis]

45. Wtf

This is why we can’t have nice things!

[orangecrush]

53. JHFC

I don't have the words anymore.

I seem to be sleepwalking through a nightmare.

[Haggard Celine]

82. That's how I feel, too.

"It's a dream, A fearful dream, life is." -- Marcus Aurelius

[Initech]

56. Fucking hell. This is a travesty. Fuck ICE.

[mr715]

66. Fuck ICE nt

[KT2000]

75. They could have stood together

on principle, held a press conference where they laid out the offenses of ICE and held firm. They had a hot iron in their hands and threw it away.

[DJ Synikus Makisimus]

78. Another BIG win for bipartisanship!

Some opposition party, eh?

[mr715]

80. It's almost like they don't care nt

[DJ Synikus Makisimus]

85. Or are not-so-deep-cover GOP agents. (n/t)

[SheltieLover]

79. They need to be primaried!

[Boo1]

92. And lose the seats

Because every one of them is from a district that Trump carried in 24, other than Gillen where he still got 49%.



There isn't a good reason to whip votes to hurt candidates in their district, especially when the republicans could have just brought in their reps who weren't at the vote and passed it anyway. A shutdown, even if you could get it, wouldn't stop ICE anyway. They'd just call them essential employees and they'd keep on working through it and then get their back pay (and I'm sure a bous!) when the shutdown inevitably ended.

There is precisely one way to slow Trump down, and that's to take majorities in 2026 and weild some actual power.