3 Democrats join Republicans to vote down Green New Deal

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey&#039;s (D-Mass.)

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

last updated 27 March 2019

Democrats staged a resistance to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) Green New Deal gambit on Tuesday, but still saw a few defections.

The Senate roundly defeated the non-binding climate resolution from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), with 57 senators voting "no" and 43 voting "present." Every Republican voted against the bill, and Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), and Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with the Democrats, joined them.

McConnell called for the Tuesday vote knowing the bill would easily lose and hoping it would put Democrats on the record as backing the controversial resolution. A handful of 2020 contenders have publicly supported the climate change-fighting proposal, but all of them voted "present" on the bill in Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-N.Y.) attempt to sidestep what he labeled a "stunt" by McConnell.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

The Green New Deal calls for a major overhaul to America's infrastructure to drastically cut carbon emissions.

Explore More

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.