House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) introduced a $3 trillion relief package on Tuesday packed with partisan Democrat priorities.
Republican lawmakers began sounding the alarm almost immediately, but Rep. Peter King (D-NY) has gone rogue, announcing that he supports Pelosi’s bill on Wednesday.
Despite layers of provisions that provide funding for illegal immigrants, mail-in voting, sanctuary cities and a host of other Democrat priorities, King said on Wednesday that it’s “the price I have to pay to get funding” to keep his district “alive.”
GOP leaders slammed Pelosi’s plan right out of the gate. House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy (D-CA) called it a “liberal wishlist that has no chance of becoming law.”
King, however, doesn’t see it that way.
“In some ways it’s a tough decision and in some ways it’s an easy decision,” King told the Hill after announcing his intention to buck the GOP and support the bill.
“Look, I disagree with a lot of things that are in that bill: some of the provisions involving illegal immigrants, some of the absentee ballots, the mail, all that stuff,” he explained.
“New York is going to die, my county, Nassau County, [and] Suffolk County is also in my district; not only are they running up tremendous cost, their revenue losses are unbelievable,” he continued.
“I think the Speaker is piling it in there to keep our left-wing base happy — I’m against all that, but [if] that’s the price I have to pay to get funding to keep New York and Nassau County and Suffolk County and New York City alive, then I’ll do that.”