Opposition to a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights amendment caused FY17 funding legislation for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to go down in defeat on the House floor last week. The House’s FY17 Energy and Water appropriations bill (H.R. 5055) would have allocated $6.1 billion to the Corps and $1.1 billion for the Bureau of Reclamation. It would also have incorporated portions of a House-approved GOP-backed drought relief bill that would increase water storage reserves and adjust scientific formulas that protect endangered smelt and salmon species in California. The bill also would have barred the Corps from implementing or enforcing the Obama administration’s controversial Clean Water Rule for the duration of the 2017 fiscal year – which contributed to a veto threat from President Obama against the spending bill.
The bill had been expected to easily pass the House until Democrats succeeded in attaching to the bill an amendment that would bar federal contractors working on projects funded through the bill from discriminating against LGBT people. This led to a backlash from some conservative lawmakers, and the bill ultimately failed on a 112 - 305 vote.