Indiana Rep. Marlin Stutzman said he switched his vote from a "no" to a "yes" after receiving assurances from the Republican leadership that the 1,174-page, $1.1 trillion spending bill would be replaced by a different short-term spending bill.
It was not. After seeing the bill pass by a narrow 214-212 margin, Stutzman accused the leadership of misleading him.
“Earlier today, I supported the rule because I was informed by leadership that the cromnibus was dead and a short term CR would take its place. I was very surprised and even more disappointed to see the cromnibus back on the floor. The American people deserve better,”
Stutzman said in a press release.
The congressman said he had voted against the cromnibus bill because it failed to "directly address President Obama’s dangerous executive action on immigration and fails to include many of the solutions that could have been passed in January with a Republican House and Senate in an open process."
His assertion that a promise was made to replace the bill was similar to information reported by
CQ Roll Call.
John Stapleton, Stutzman’s communications director, would not go on the record regarding which GOP leaders to whom the congressman was referring, but said Stutzman's vote switch on the procedural rule was necessary for either plan,
reported The Journal Gazette.
Stapleton did confirm that the congressman thought he was misled and felt "surprised."
While it does not matter in the real world because the legislative dye has been cast, the back-and-forth about whether pressure or deception was used will resonate when the House returns in January.
One member, who spoke with
Breitbart News on the condition of anonymity, said it reflects the level of distrust between conservatives and House Speaker John Boehner and his leadership team.
“This is a pattern of deception,” the member said. "This is par for the course. They said they’re against Obamacare and against executive amnesty, but then they went and funded it anyway.”
The discord among members of the GOP caucus concerning the spending bill continued on the staff level.
A senior aide to Boehner
told National Review Online that the speaker did not talk with him, adding “we don’t know what he (Stutzman) is talking about.”
An aide to House leader Kevin McCarthy said that “at no time was that communicated by the leadership team or the whip team.”
However, several sources told Breitbart News it was McCarthy, not Boehner, who actually made the promise.
McCarthy’s staff also denied that allegation in an on-record comment to Breitbart News.
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