CNN reports:
Last November, GOP Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota released a statement slamming the passage of the freshly approved infrastructure law he referred to as “President Biden’s multi-trillion dollar socialist wish list.” Then in June, Emmer – the House Republican campaign chairman leading attacks on Democrats for supporting the law – quietly submitted a wish of his own.
In a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Emmer expressed his hearty support for a multimillion dollar grant to improve part of Highway 65 in his district.
Emmer’s plea is one of dozens obtained by CNN in response to a public records request, full of instances like Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville modulating his tone from accusing the law of “using fuzzy math and IOU’s to hide the real cost,” to appealing to Buttigieg because “as a former mayor, you understand better than anyone the time and money that goes into applying for highly competitive grants.
Read the full article.
NEW – dozens of Republicans who last year voted against the bipartisan infrastructure bill, calling it “socialist,” “radical spending,” spent the past few months quietly lobbying the administration for money out of that bill to come home to them https://t.co/bDkW4P4QIU
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) October 7, 2022
Some of the Republicans who voted against the infrastructure bill, then lobbied for money for money from it are facing tight re-election races. Among them: Florida Rep. María Elvira Salazar (who signed 2) and California Rep. David Valadao (who signed 5).
Two of those letters: pic.twitter.com/gKl7RUuijI
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) October 7, 2022
Rand Paul’s spokesperson told me: “Opposition to a spending bill does not always mean opposition to the goal of that spending; opposition to a spending bill can mean opposition to spending that adds to the deficit and is not offset with spending cuts elsewhere.”
Some letters: pic.twitter.com/fBR9EHEsMQ
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) October 7, 2022