Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was the lone Democrat to oppose a $1.7 trillion spending bill that passed in the House on Friday.
The bill funds the government for the rest of the fiscal year and provides emergency aid for Ukraine and natural disaster relief.
The legislation passed on a 225 to 201 vote. Ocasio-Cortez was the only Democrat to vote “no” on the measure.
In a statement, Ocasio-Cortez explained that she opposed the measure because of the $858 billion in defense spending and the additional funds allocated to federal agencies that oversee immigration.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) received $8.4 billion, $160 million more than last year and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) received $86 billion.
“I campaigned on a promise to my constituents: to oppose additional expansion and funding for ICE and DHS — particularly in the absence of long-overdue immigration reform. For that reason, as well as the dramatic increase in defense spending which exceeds even President Biden’s request, I voted no on today’s omnibus bill,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
The bill passed in the Senate Thursday on a 68-29 vote. It will head to President Joe Biden’s desk where he is expected to sign it into law to avoid a government shutdown.
