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Freshman lawmaker Jason Chaffetz goes against Republican grain on Afghan war
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Candidate
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| Contributor | RP |
| Last Edited | RP Jul 13, 2010 03:43pm |
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| Category | Profile |
| Author | Perry Bacon Jr. |
| Media | Newspaper - Washington Post |
| News Date | Tuesday, July 13, 2010 09:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | As the House neared a vote this month on funding for the war in Afghanistan, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) wanted reassurance. The lawmaker had criticized the surge of 30,000 troops President Obama authorized, saying that the United States does not have a clear policy or exit strategy. But he had not yet cast a vote against war funding.
He knew such a move would isolate him in the Republican Party; most GOP lawmakers strongly support the war effort even as they rail against almost everything else Obama has done. And Chaffetz is no moderate: He won his seat in 2008 running to the right of the conservative incumbent, has called for cutting federal employees' pay since taking office and has openly discussed a "tea party"-style challenge to Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R) in 2012.
So Chaffetz joined a tiny bloc in Congress: Republicans opposed to the Afghan war. Chaffetz, 43, voted for a measure that would bar the administration from funding anything other than withdrawals and another that would require Obama to present a plan by April for the "safe, orderly and expeditious redeployment of U.S. troops." Only nine House Republicans backed either measure. |
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