...“We need to ask ourselves whether this survey is worth $2.4 billion,” said Rep. Daniel Webster, Florida Republican, who offered the amendment to eliminate the ACS.
Other targets for Republicans were centered on what they see as Obama administration overreach and passed on overwhelmingly party-line votes, including:
• An amendment blocking the administration from taking actions that contradict the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage for federal purposes as the union of a man and a woman. That amendment passed 245-171, with 16 Democrats voting with the majority and seven Republicans voting against it.
• A provision that prevents the administration from pursuing cases against Arizona and other states that have passed immigration crack-down laws. That passed 238-173 with 12 Democrats voting for it and six Republicans — notably, the party’s Cuban-American members from Florida — voting against it.
• An amendment that halts the Obama administration’s efforts to prevent states from enhancing their voter-identification laws. It was the most polarizing of the efforts to control the Justice Department, passing on a 232-190 vote with only one Democrat, Rep. Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania, supporting it, and seven Republicans opposing it.
But the House didn’t want to rein in the administration’s efforts across the board. An amendment offered by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, California Republican, to keep the Justice Department from meddling in states that allow medical marijuana use, was soundly defeated, 262-163. Only 28 Republicans voted to end the Obama administration’s actions, joining 135 Democrats who said their president’s Justice Department was going too far.
