GOP unity on spending bills holding, despite earmarks galore – By Jennifer Shutt (Roll Call) / July 6 2021
Republicans procured 67 percent of their earmark requests in the surface transportation package
House Republicans are staying unified thus far in opposition to Democrat-drafted spending bills, despite racking up hundreds of millions of dollars in home-district earmarks after a selection process many in the GOP acknowledge has been fair and transparent.
From the multiyear, $759 billion surface transportation bill to the initial batch of fiscal 2022 appropriations bills for agencies ranging from the Small Business Administration to the Interior Department, Republicans are staying on message: The bills spend too much and are too laden with policies they oppose.
“I think these bills are gonna face pretty uniform opposition across the board,” Oklahoma’s Tom Cole said of upcoming appropriations votes. Cole is the top Republican on Rules and the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee, which funds the largest domestic spending bill.
Just two Republicans — Pennsylvania’s Brian Fitzpatrick and New Jersey’s Christopher H. Smith — voted for the massive transportation bill Thursday.
CONTINUE > https://www.rollcall.com/2021/07/06/gop-unity-on-spending-bills-holding-despite-earmarks-galore/
