April 18 (UPI) — The U.S. House failed to get the requisite number of votes Tuesday to overturn a presidential veto of a Republican resolution to roll back new water regulations.
The Republican-led House voted 227-196 to overturn the veto by President Joe Biden, which fell short of the necessary two-thirds majority.
Last month, the Biden administration unveiled new national standards for drinking water. The regulations specifically address Polyfluorinated Substances, limiting their exposure to humans.
Earlier this month, Biden vetoed a Republican-led effort to roll back the new drinking water regulations.
The PFAS do not break down in the environment, can move through soils, contaminate drinking water sources, and build up in fish and wildlife, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The so-called “forever chemicals” have been linked to common liver cancer.
“I just vetoed a bill that attempted to block our administration from protecting our nation’s waterways — a resource millions of Americans depend on — from destruction and pollution,” Biden said at the time.
Thursday’s vote would have struck down that veto.
The vote did not proceed entirely along party lines, with 10 Democrats voting with Republicans, and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvanian Republican, the sole GOP member to cross the aisle.
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