Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley said Tuesday that he voted against the bipartisan infrastructure bill because it is allegedly all about “radical left woke politics” and not about actual infrastructure.
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“This isn’t an infrastructure bill,” Hawley told Fox News Primetime. “This is a radical left woke politics bill that has stuff like gender identity mandates in it. The radical equity agenda. The Green New Deal. That’s all in this bill,” the senator continued.
The legislation passed 69-30 in the senate, with 19 Republicans voting with every Democrat. Hawley noted that the bill also contains “trillions of dollars [in] pork-barrel spending” that he claims includes a bridge to be built in Canada. (RELATED: Infrastructure Bill Beats Filibuster, Set To Sail To Senate Passage)
“This is a bad bill and that’s why I voted no,” he said, noting that he was “disappointed” that some Republican senators supported the legislation.
The senator also claimed the bill was more about changing America into the progressive left’s image. “This Is the Biden’s far-left agenda, spending trillions of dollars to remake our society and to remake it in the image of the woke left.”
“So, it’s absolutely imperative the Republicans say no, this is not the right vision for this country,” Hawley insisted, adding that America is neither a racist nor an evil country but a “good country” that doesn’t need to be remade. “Americans need to be empowered to live their lives. That needs to be our agenda.” (RELATED: Ocasio-Cortez Accuses Biden Of ‘Playing Patty-Cake’ With Republicans While They Are ‘Setting The Planet On Fire’)
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer exits the Senate chamber after the Senate passed the infrastructure bill with 69 votes. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Monday that the Democrats would seek a $3.5 trillion budget resolution that would spearhead efforts to fund climate change, health care and immigration policies. Some centrist Democrats in the Senate are balking at the price tag, and that could set their party on a policy collision course.
Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said she will attempt to scuttle a bipartisan infrastructure bill if that budget resolution is not passed in the Senate.
Former President Donald Trump chimed in Sunday, claiming that the bill was “the beginning of the Green New Deal.”