(NewsNation Now) — One of 13 House Republicans who voted for President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill says lawmakers who are calling the 13 “traitors” are putting politics over people.

“We need to be better than that in Washington, D.C., and put the American people first and not fanning the flames of division and also misrepresentations of the actual facts that are in this bill,” Rep. Tom Reed said on “Dan Abrams Live.”

Another Republican, Michigan U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, received threatening voicemails on his phone after voting for the bill.

“I hope you die. I hope everybody in your f—ing family dies …,” said a caller on voicemail.

The backlash continued with some Republicans, including Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, wanting to strip those who crossed party lines of their seniority and committee assignments.

“I will always vote what I think is right for the district,” Reed said. “…We worked on this bill for 10 years … and everyone agrees on both sides of the party aisle, Democrats and Republicans, that we need to fix infrastructure in America.”

Reed says, fortunately, he does not see a majority of Republicans agreeing to the possible punishments.

“They understand if they go down this path, this is not going to be good for the Republican Party,” Reed said. “This will not be good for opportunities to lead in the future.”

Reed is not seeking re-election, but plans to help candidates who are “willing to put Americans first” get elected.

“I’ve stood up for years now fighting that extremism on both sides of the equation, and will continue that fight,” Reed said.

Watch “Dan Abrams Live” weeknights at 8/7c on NewsNation.

NewsNation’s Evan Lambert contributed to this report.