An amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) sponsored by Sens. Tom Udall (D-NM) and Rand Paul (R-KY) to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan was tabled by the Senate on Wednesday evening. As reported by Jordain Carney of The Hill:
"The proposal [...] would remove troops from Afghanistan within a year and give them a $2,500 bonus. It would also repeal the 2001 authorization for the use of military force once U.S. troops have left the country.
"'Our amendment will finally and completely end the war in Afghanistan. ... It is not sustainable to keep fighting in Afghanistan generation after generation,' Paul said.
"Udall added that their proposed amendment was 'the responsible way' to end this war."
The vote to table the amendment was 60-33, with senators from both sides of the aisle voting to effectively kill it. Despite their opposing parties, these 60 senators do share something in common: they all have taken PAC money from the defense sector this election cycle:
Lamar Alexander (R-TN): $8,000
John Barrasso (R-WY): $77,000
Marsha Blackburn (R-TN): $23,956
Richard Blumenthal (D-CT): $91,000
John Boozman (R-AR): $97,500
Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV): $86,000
Tom Carper (D-DE): $46,500
Bill Cassidy (R-LA): $21,000
Susan Collins (R-ME): $85,000
Chris Coons (D-DE): $15,500
John Cornyn (R-TX): $107,500
Tom Cotton (R-AR): $91,000
Kevin Cramer (R-ND): $15,000
Mike Crapo (R-ID): $55,500
Ted Cruz (R-TX): $61,000
Joni Ernst (R-IA): $108,500
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA): $68,000
Deb Fischer (R-NE): $128,000
Cory Gardner (R-CO): $70,500
Lindsey Graham (R-SC): $100,700
Chuck Grassley (R-IA): $36,000
Maggie Hassan (D-NH): $22,500
Josh Hawley (R-MO): $21,500
John Hoeven (R-ND): $107,500
Jim Inhofe (R-OK): $243,500
Ron Johnson (R-WI): $59,000
Doug Jones (D-AL): $75,000
John Kennedy (R-LA): $35,000
Angus King (I-ME): $86,000
James Lankford (R-OK): $70,300
Kelly Loeffler (R-GA): $10,000
Joe Manchin (D-WV): $108,000
Mitch McConnell (R-KY): $150,500
Martha McSally (R-AZ): $147,500
Bob Menendez (D-NJ): $41,500
Jerry Moran (R-KS): $142,000
Chris Murphy (D-CT): $56,500
David Perdue (R-GA): $83,400
Rob Portman (R-OH): $93,500
Jack Reed (D-RI): $209,100
Jim Risch (R-ID): $45,500
Pat Roberts (R-KS): $5,500
Mitt Romney (R-UT): $11,000
Jacky Rosen (D-NV): $16,000
Mike Rounds (R-SD): $66,000
Marco Rubio (R-FL): $85,000
Ben Sasse (R-NE): $36,500
Rick Scott (R-FL): $17,000
Tim Scott (R-SC): $117,700
Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH): $178,700
Richard Shelby (R-AL): $144,200
Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ): $47,000
Dan Sullivan (R-AK): $109,450
John Thune (R-SD): $53,500
Thom Tillis (R-NC): $129,000
Pat Toomey (R-PA): $68,000
Mark Warner (D-VA): $139,600
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI): $24,000
Roger Wicker (R-MS): $164,325
Todd Young (R-IN): $49,000
The Senate's vote to table Udall and Paul's amendment came the same day as the House Armed Services Committee approved a separate NDAA amendment "to put roadblocks on President Trump's ability to withdraw from Afghanistan." The amendment was sponsored by Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO). While he has not directly taken PAC money from the defense sector, leadership PACs contributing to him -- such as Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's (D-MD) AmeriPAC: The Fund for a Greater America and Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) PAC to the Future, each of which have given $10,000 to Crow this election cycle -- have respectively taken $47,500 and $6,000 from defense PACs.
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