Full List of Democrats Voting to Repeal Biden's Solar Panel Plan

A dozen House Democrats joined their Republican counterparts and bucked President Joe Biden's plan to get more solar panels into the U.S. to expedite green energy development.

On Friday, the House's Republican majority, with the help of 12 Democrats, voted to repeal Biden's efforts to suspend tariffs on solar panels coming from four Southeast Asian countries: Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Last June, Biden, invoking the Defense Production Act, paused new import tariffs on solar cells and modules from the four countries, which account for about 80 percent of U.S. supplies, for 24 months.

However, the moratorium came amid a Commerce Department probe investigating whether the four countries were acting as conduits for Chinese products to help China circumvent existing tariffs—a suspicion that was confirmed by preliminary results in December. A final determination is expected next week.

The Commerce investigation has slowed the nation's development of large renewable projects, which in order to meet Biden's goal of eliminating carbon emissions from the sector by 2035, need to hit aggressive growth targets. The problem is that the U.S. power sector relies heavily on imports.

Supporters of the bipartisan measure argued that it would hold China accountable for violating U.S. trade laws while supporting domestic manufacturers. But those in the solar energy industry have warned that removing Biden's two-year suspension will increase costs, cut jobs and slow planned projects for clean power facilities.

Speaking from the House floor on Wednesday, Democratic Representative Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, ranking member of the Ways and Means trade subcommittee, cautioned his colleagues that the proposal "would punish American workers, would punish American business and set us back on our climate goals."

But Blumenauer's counterpart on the panel, Republican Representative Jason Smith of Missouri, argued that the measure did exactly the opposite.

"This is about protecting American workers, American jobs and holding China accountable," said Smith, who chairs the Ways and Means committee.

Given the GOP's slim majority in the House, the proposal would have failed if all Democrats had voted along party lines, as Republicans can afford to lose only four votes. On Wednesday, eight Republicans broke with their party and voted against the measure.

The resolution, which passed in a 221-201 vote, will now go to the Democratic-controlled Senate, where several Democrats have already said they would vote in favor of rescinding the current moratorium. The White House issued a statement warning that Biden was prepared to veto the legislation.

Newsweek reached out to the White House by email for comment.

Here is the full list of House Democrats who voted in favor of repealing Biden's tariff moratorium:

1. Don Davis of North Carolina
2. Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania
3. John Garamendi of California
4. Jared Golden of Maine
5. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio
6. Ro Khanna of California
7. Dan Kildee of Michigan
8. Frank Mrvan of Indiana
9. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey
10. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington
11. Terri Sewell of Alabama
12. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.