Since Trumpageddon, I have struggled with how to influence the Republicans in Congress that currently represent our only chance to hold Trump accountable for his crimes and prevent legislative catastrophe. As a resident of Washington’s 7th District, I am proud to be represented in Congress by the Honorable Pramila Jayapal, but I don’t have a Republican representative or Senator whose office I can contact to express my outrage. I have chosen to focus my ire on Dave Reichert of the nearby 8th District.
Elected in 2005 on his unearned reputation as the catcher of the Green River Killer, Reichert survived some heartbreaking elections in the aughts and was rewarded with a considerably more Republican district in 2013. The current 8th District includes the Seattle exurbs of Auburn, Issaquah, and Sammamish; most of rural Pierce County (including Mount Rainier National Park); and Chelan and Kittitas counties on the other side of the Cascade Mountains. In November 2016, the 8th District went 48-45 for Clinton, but Reichert had the good fortune to face a former sportscaster who had dropped out of the race in July and won reelection handily.
As a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Reichert was one of the first Republicans in Congress to vote for Trumpcare before equivocating in the run-up to Thursday’s vote. He finally announced his newfound opposition only after Paul Ryan was certain he had enough votes for passage and then ran to proclaim his independence to local media, as explained by The Stranger:
In a statement released shortly before Republicans voted to kick 24 million people off of health insurance, Reichert claimed that the Trumpcare 2.0 just didn't provide "the essential benefits" he needed to support it. Citing concerns about cuts to Medicaid and wanting to cover people with pre-existing conditions, he pledged to "continue to work with [his] colleagues on both sides of the aisle to...make our current system work better."
In an interview with the Seattle Times, Reichert added that he didn't want to vote for the new bill because it had been, as Jim Brunner summarizes, "rushed through without a proper vetting of costs."
With a knowing chuckle in his voice, Reichert reiterated that claim to KING 5: "Before you vote on a bill, you should know how much it costs."
This from a man who had already voted for Trumpcare in committee prior to vetting of costs by the CBO and who was quoted in 2006 as saying, “Sometimes the leadership comes to me and says, ‘Dave, we want you to vote a certain way.’ Now, they know I can do that over here; that I have to do that over here. In other districts, that’s not a problem, but here I have to be able to be very flexible in where I place my votes.”
I left a voicemail at Reichert’s office early Thursday morning imploring him to vote no. Instead of thanking him, I sent him this message via FaxZero on Thursday evening so that he knows that his vote on Thursday will not let him the hook
Dear Rep. Reichert,
In an act of utter moral depravity, your party just voted to take healthcare away from tens of millions of the neediest Americans in order to give a trillion dollar tax cut to those who need it the least. The fact that your party’s leadership gave you permission to quietly vote no on AHCA today in no way absolves you of responsibility for this abomination. Your unwillingness to stand up to your leadership and your steadfast loyalty to Trump, as evidenced by your recent vote to allow him to keep his taxes hidden, put you far outside of the mainstream of the 8th District.
I hold you personally responsible for all of the damage that your party is doing to our country. Although I live in Seattle and will not have the pleasure of voting against you, be assured that I will do everything in my power to make sure that this is your last term in Congress.
Sincerely,
[Name Withheld]
Prior to redistricting, I had thought that Rep. Reichert would be the last Republican elected from the 8th District. In its current configuration the 8th District is likely to be closely balanced for the forseeable future, but it should absolutely swing to Democrats in a wave election in 2018. It is already on DCCC’s Target list, and hopefully a strong candidate who can attract netroots support will finally retire Reichert from Congress.