Congressional Republicans’ support for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was overwhelming—but not universal.
The tax reform bill easily passed the House of Representatives Tuesday, with 227 members of Congress voting for it and 203 voting against. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill late Tuesday before sending it to President Donald Trump’s desk.
The vote was almost entirely divided along party lines; no Democrats voted for the bill, and only twelve Republicans voted against it. Those Republicans are:
Donovan said in a statement that he was unable to support the bill because it capped the state and local tax deductions at $10,000. He said he had been fighting “tooth and nail” to protect the deduction, along with fellow GOP members of the New York congressional delegation, Faso, King, Stefanik and Zeldin.
“With the state and local tax deduction nearly eliminated, this tax bill doesn’t equal relief for far too many New Yorkers. It is still paid for by the middle-class families of Staten Island and Brooklyn,” he explained.
But the reasons also could have been electoral. With the exception of Jones, who represents North Carolina’s third district, all of these members of Congress hail from New York, New Jersey and California — states that are expected to be most heavily impacted by capping the state and local tax deductions, according to CNBC.
They are also states that heavily voted against President Donald Trump in the 2016 election. And with the exception of LoBiondo, who announced in November he will not run for reelection in 2018, all will be on the ballot this coming November.
“My responsibility and allegiance is to the people who sent me here, and I will not support a tax hike on the people I represent,” Donovan said in his statement.
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Write to Alana Abramson at Alana.Abramson@time.com