Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) criticized her Republican colleague Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) for allegedly abandoning critical House votes in favor of a “joyride” with Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk.
What Happened: Gonzales accompanied Musk to the border between Texas and Mexico in Eagle Pass late Thursday after the city declared a state of emergency due to the extraordinary influx of thousands of migrants.
AOC slammed a Republican Congressman for leaving during a crucial time in Washington, D.C., when the House was making important votes and trying to avoid a looming government shutdown.
“What's funny about this photo?” she wrote while quoting a post on X that showed Gonzales and Musk sitting in the front seat of a car.
“The House is holding important votes in D.C. tonight, people are scrambling to avoid a shutdown, but this Republican Congressman decided to skip town to joyride with a billionaire when his own party has just a single-digit margin and needs his vote,” she added.
Why It Matters: The criticism from AOC comes at a time of heightened political tension. The threat of a government shutdown looms large. On Thursday, House Republicans approved a bill to allocate funds for the State Department and foreign operations, passing it despite opposition from some GOP members, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.).
Although, the passage of this bill alone will not prevent a government shutdown at the end of the month. Leading Republicans are optimistic that advancing this legislation, along with three other full-year funding bills, might facilitate the House GOP conference's approval of a funding stopgap measure.
Meanwhile, Musk and Gonzales also discussed a possible resolution amid the growing immigration issue. Gonzales said that the government shutdown, which deems various functions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection as essential, presents an opportune moment to develop a bipartisan solution.
"We have a government that's about to shut down, and it's going to shut down. I think there's an opportunity, if we can reopen the government and there'll be real solutions attached with some border security measures that are nonpartisan," Gonzales said.
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