Twenty-two Democrats broke ranks and voted Tuesday for the resolution condemning the Obama administration for not giving Congress advance notice of the exchange of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five Taliban prisoners.
Voting in favor of the measure offered vulnerable Democrats in tough reelection races an opportunity to distance themselves from President Obama.
The 22 Democrats were Reps. John Barrow (Ga.), Ami Bera (Calif.), Bruce Braley (Iowa), Julia Brownley (Calif.), Cheri Bustos (Ill.), Jim Costa (Calif.), Henry Cuellar (Texas), Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii), Pete Gallego (Texas), Joe Garcia (Fla.), Dan Lipinski (Ill.), Jim Matheson (Utah), Mike Michaud (Maine), Patrick Murphy (Fla.), Beto O’Rourke (Texas), Gary Peters (Mich.), Collin Peterson (Minn.), Nick Rahall (W.Va.), Raul Ruiz (Calif.), Kurt Schrader (Ore.), Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) and Tim Walz (Minn.).
{mosads}Braley is running for Senate in one of the year’s most competitive races, while Michaud is running for governor of Maine.
Barrow, Gallego, Peters, Peterson, Rahall, Ruiz and Sinema are considered among the most vulnerable House incumbents.
Other Democrats, meanwhile, are centrists who tend to break with their party despite not being in especially tough races, like Cuellar and Lipinski.
Matheson is a frequent defector, but he is retiring at the end of this Congress.
During floor debate, Barrow said the Bergdahl exchange would embolden terrorist groups to kidnap Americans as a means of freeing their own members.
“Negotiating with terrorists will only weaken this nation in the future and encourage other terrorists to kidnap Americans in an attempt to extort future prisoner exchanges,” Barrow said.