PEORIA – Calling from his car after a constituency visit in Peoria Friday afternoon, Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-18) told Illinois Review why he was the only Illinois Republican to vote "no" on the controversial Omnibus spending bill signed into law earlier in the day.
"There were two main reasons I opposed it," LaHood said. "First was process-wise. We had less than twelve hours to review a 2200 page bill, and there was no way we could know what was in it. Communication was lacking, and I couldn't support that.
"Second was the money and what programs the bill funded and didn't fund: I opposed money for Planned Parenthood, sanctuary cities, H2B Visa provisions, and a lack of funding for the wall, glaring things like that," he said. "I ran on those issues and I had to stick with them."
LaHood was hesitant to talk about his vote, not wanting to alienate House colleagues that voted for the measure.
"There was pressure from the leadership to vote for it," he said. "But I really didn't ask others how they were going to vote. I just did what I had to do and voted 'no.'"
The feedback from his 18th CD constituents has been positive, he said. "As I listen to the people in my district, they're happy about the vote."
LaHood said it was different to be on the same side of the issue as four Democrats from Illinois – Bobby Rush, Danny Davis, Luis Gutierrez and Jan Schakowsky. "As far as I know, they're mostly upset about DACA not being in the budget. I thought President Trump's offer on DACA was good, but the Democrats didn't like it."
LaHood said that he agreed with the defense spending in the Omnibus package President Trump signed into law Friday.
