Olde Hornet
Well-Known Member
These 4 GOP senators voted to rip away millions of dollars in federal funding that they had secured for their home states
The vote was unsuccessful, and most of those senators voted for the bill's final passage. But it's another example of "vote no, take the dough."
These 4 GOP senators voted to rip away millions of dollars in federal funding that they had secured for their home states
Four GOP senators voted for a provision on Friday that would have ripped away millions of dollars in federal funding that they had worked to secure for their home states.
The vote came as lawmakers worked to pass a bill to fund large swaths of the federal government just hours before it was set to shut down. The bill has already passed the House and is set to be signed by President Joe Biden before the end of the night on Friday.
Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida led a last-ditch effort to strip all congressionally directed spending (CDS) out of the roughly $460 billion package. Known colloquially as "earmarks," the CDS process allows lawmakers to request federal funding for individual projects in their home states.
Like most Senate Republicans, Scott did not participate in that process, describing earmarks as a "corrupt practice" ahead of a vote on his amendment to strip all earmarks out of the bill.
Altogether, 17 GOP senators requested and secured earmark funding.
But 4 of those 17 Republicans voted for Scott's amendment, which ultimately failed on a 64-32 vote, including:
- Deb Fischer of Nebraska
- John Thune of South Dakota
- Thom Tillis of North Carolina
- Tommy Tuberville of Alabama
two of the worst