Blog - Six GOP Senators Vote Against And Then For The Jobs Bill

Sen. John Kerry’s [D, MA] claim that he voted for billions to fund the war in Iraq before he voted against them has haunted him and every politician since. Mike Memoli notes that today’s Senate vote on a $15 billion jobs bill inverts that concept: six Senate Republicans voted against the jobs bill before they voted for it.

On Monday, the Senate held a cloture vote to break a Republican filibuster of the bill. In a 62-30 vote, the Senate votes to advance the bill. If at least 60 votes weren’t cast for cloture, it would have effectively been killed. Today, the Senate voted 70-28 to finally pass the jobs bill.

Making up part of the difference in the two votes are six Republicans who voted to kill the jobs bill on Monday and then voted to pass it today: Sen. Lamar Alexander [R, TN], Sen. Thad Cochran [R, MS], Sen. James Inhofe [R, OK], Sen. George LeMieux [R, FL], Sen. Lisa Murkowski [R, AK] and Sen. Roger Wicker [R-MS].

Depending on which side of the aisle you fall on, you could call their votes hypocrisy or a testament to pragmatism.

Two GOP senators, Sen. Orrin Hatch [R, UT] and Sen. Richard Burr [R, NC], missed Monday’s cloture vote but voted for the jobs bill today.