House Democratic leaders such as Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) voted against the GOP bill, after charging that it was not a serious attempt to address the looming debt ceiling problem. In the end, 97 Democrats bucked their encouragement to vote against it.

Thirty-nine of the Welch letter signatories followed their leadership on the vote by voting against it: Reps. Joe Baca (Calif.), Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), Leonard Boswell (Iowa), Corrine Brown (Fla.), G.K. Butterfield (NC), Lois Capps (Calif.), Russ Carnahan (Mo.), David Cicilline (RI), Hansen Clarke (Mich.), John Conyers (Mich.), Jerry Costello (Ill.), Mark Critz (Pa.), Elijah Cummings (Md.), Peter DeFazio (Ore.), Ted Deutch (Fla.), Lloyd Doggett (Texas), Alcee Hastings (Fla.), Maurice Hinchey (NY), Jay Inslee (Wash.), Steve Israel (NY), Hank Johnson (Ga.), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), Bill Keating (Mass.), John Lewis (Ga.), Gregory Meeks (NY), Collin Peterson (Minn.), Jared Polis (Colo.), Charles Rangel (NY), Laura Richardson (Calif.), Tim Ryan (Ohio), Loretta Sanchez (Calif.), David Scott (Ga.), Louise Slaughter (NY), Betty Sutton (Ohio), Mike Thompson (Calif.), and David Wu (Ore.).