Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Slams House GOP On Border Wall Spending

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez didn't waste any time Thursday slamming her soon-to-be GOP counterparts in the House of Representatives for their passing a short-term spending bill that includes $5.7 billion that will fund President Donald Trump's border wall.

Ocasio-Cortez, the outspoken New Yorker who will be sworn-in to office next month, said border wall money could better be used for teacher pay, infrastructure and left-leaning distribution ideas like tuition, green jobs and prescription refills.

The House passed a short-term spending bill by a 217 to 185 vote early Thursday evening that includes funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. This could be one of the last-ditch efforts for House Republicans, as they need 60 votes from the Senate to pass, whereas the Senate doesn't have 60 Republicans.

Conversely, no House Democrats voted for the spending bill while eight Republicans — Justin Amash, Ken Buck, Carlos Curbelo, Will Hurd, Erik Paulsen, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Fred Upton and David Valadao — voted against it. Democrats won back the House in the November general election, but they won't officially become the majority until January 2019.

The Senate passed a spending bill Wednesday night that didn't include the border wall, but the bill was amended by the House before its passage on Thursday.

A government shutdown looms if a spending bill isn't passed, and Trump has declared he won't sign anything that doesn't include a border wall. However, Democrats have vowed they won't pass a border wall, but they would pass increased border security.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters the president's "temper tantrum may produce a government shutdown, but it won't get him his wall." Schumer then added, "maybe if the government shuts down, [Trump] can golf more comfortably."

Trump is scheduled to visit his properties in South Florida for the Christma holiday beginning Friday.

As for Ocasio-Cortez's proposition on teacher pay, this is something typically decided either by each state's education system or their subsequent public school districts throughout each state.

Ocasio-Cortez is a self-proclaimed socialist Democrat who has championed Bernie Sanders-like efforts for free tuition and other liberal-spending agenda items.

Where there are Americans who see Ocasio-Cortez as the new face of politics, an outgoing Democrat Senator said social media has created a new perception as to how people follow politics and their leaders.

"When I first got here, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had a half-dozen reporters in Washington. Now there is one person covering the entire Congress. It's impossible. Now it's all about social media, the cable networks, the unedited crap," said Missourian Claire McCaskill, 65, who was first elected in 2006. "But there is so much drama over that New York woman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, like she's the new shining object. That's how the media covers stuff now. And some of us are passing good old-fashioned bills, and we get nothing. Gimme a break!"