As the clock ran down on funding the Department of Homeland Security by a midnight Friday deadline in a standoff over immigration, tensions ran high — and the Georgians in Congress who stepped out of the party line faced pressure.
A vote to keep the department open for three weeks failed in the House after dozens of conservative Republicans rebelled against any bill that did not strike against President Barack Obama’s actions to remove the threat of deportation for up to 5 million people here illegally.
U.S. Reps. Barry Loudermilk of Cassville and Jody Hice of Monroe were the only Georgia Republicans to vote against the bill.
Hice and Loudermilk waited a long time before casting their “no” votes, as GOP leaders tried to cajole various members. Hice voted last, after chief deputy whip Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., came by and whispered in his ear.
Later, Hice and Loudermilk were summoned into the Republican cloakroom but did not change their votes.
Meanwhile, Rep. David Scott of Atlanta was one of just 12 Democrats to support the bill – as most of the party demanded the House swallow a Senate-passed “clean” funding bill through September, rather than a short-term measure.
According to National Journal, Scott got an earful from Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., in a lobby off the House floor for "voting with these damn Republicans!" Scott explained that he was making sure Transportation Security Administration agents who live in his district continue to get their paychecks.
Earlier in the day, Georgia Republican U.S. Sens. Johnny Isakson and David Perdue voted against the Senate’s full-year funding bill.
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