In a late night vote Tuesday, Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.) joined his colleagues in Vermont’s three-member congressional delegation in backing a last-minute deal to raise taxes on the very wealthy and temporarily avert steep spending cuts.

Welch joined the vast majority of the House Democratic caucus and roughly a third of a bitterly divided House Republican caucus in approving a deal forged the night before by Senate negotiators and the White House. The final tally in the House was 257 to 167.

Barely 20 hours earlier, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) were part of a far more lopsided, 89-8 Senate majority voting in favor of the bill shortly after the new year dawned.

But neither Leahy, Sanders nor Welch appeared to be crowing about the compromise measure, which fell short of nearly everybody’s hopes and expectations.

Sanders, who has been particularly outspoken during Congress’ debate over the fiscal impasse, was notably quiet Tuesday after falling in line with most Senate Democrats. Asked for comment on Sanders’ vote, spokesman Michael Briggs said only, “There is a long history of the senator’s views on his website from releases and interviews.”

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Paul Heintz was part of the Seven Days news team from 2012 to 2020. He served as political editor and wrote the "Fair Game" political column before becoming a staff writer.

One reply on “Vermont’s Congressional Delegation Backs ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Deal”

  1. Bernie didn’t have any statement? He must be upset that he can no longer rant and rave about the top income earners not paying their share of taxes.
    The biggest boon of the fiscal cliff may actually be a silent Sanders.

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