The Senate failed to invoke cloture and vote on the District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007. The tally was 57-42, with Sen. Byrd not voting. The bill would add one seat in the House of Representatives for the people in the District of Columbia. In exchange, the people of Utah would get an extra seat. The only Republicans to vote for the bill were the two Utah senators, Hatch and Bennett, and Specter, Snowe, Voinovich, and Lugar.
There is some question whether this bill would survive a constitutional challenge (which may be why Byrd abstained) but the obvious result of its passage would be one safe Democratic seat (in D.C.) and one safe Republicans seat (in Utah). So, what’s the problem? Why did 42 Republicans vote against it?
Not cool.
Update [2007-9-18 16:40:14 by BooMan]: I read the roll call wrong. Susan Collins also voted for it, but Max Baucus voted against. WTF is his problem?
