In what’s being called the first “test vote” on the Gang of Eight’s comprehensive immigration bill, the Senate Monday evening passed a motion to invoke cloture on the Corker-Hoeven amendment to the bill, 67 to 27. All 52 voting Democratic senators were joined by 15 Republicans, including Gang of Eight members Jeff Flake, Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and Marco Rubio, to close debate on the amendment, which purports to boost border security by adding 20,000 more patrol agents to the country’s border with Mexico and substantially increase federal funds for border security and more border fencing. Twenty-seven Republicans and no Democrats voted against cloture.
The motion exceeded the required 60 votes to pass, and the Senate will move on now to vote on the amendment outright, which will require only a simple majority to pass.
Here’s a list of the 15 Republicans who voted to invoke cloture on the amendment: Lamar Alexander, Kelly Ayotte, Jeffrey Chiesa, Susan Collins, Bob Corker, Jeff Flake, Lindsey Graham, Orrin Hatch, Dean Heller, John Hoeven, Mark Kirk, John McCain, Lisa Murkowski, Marco Rubio, and Roger Wicker.