President Joe Biden on Thursday criticized Republican lawmakers who voted down the bipartisan infrastructure bill last year, but have taken credit for projects made possible by the $1.2 trillion law.
“We got a little help from the Republicans — but not a lot — but enough to get it done. But the truth is, there are far more Republicans who believe in this bill than actually voted for it,” Biden said at a Democratic National Committee reception in Maryland, another stop for the president as he continues his campaign in less than two months. ahead of the mid-term elections.
“I see them out there, ‘And now we’re going to build this new bridge here, we’re all for it. And by the way, this new road, and we’re going to have an Internet that’s going to be all the way,” the President said, changing his tone of voice about his impression of Republicans. “I love them, man. They are not ashamed.”
Biden did not name any Republican lawmakers in his speech, but a recent review by CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” found that at least 14 congressional Republicans who voted against the bill tried to take credit for projects made possible by it.
Iowa Democrat Liz Mathis, who is trying to unseat Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, recently called out Hinson, who she claimed in a statement “helped lead a bipartisan group” to “prioritize funding for these essential upgrades” despite fact that she was opposed to the bill.
A spokesman for Hinson said in a statement to CNN that the congresswoman opposed the infrastructure package “because it was tied to trillions in other spending in the House.”
“Since the bill was signed into law, that money was going to be spent regardless. If there’s federal money on the table, of course, he’ll do everything he can to make sure it’s reinvested in Iowa. That’s why she worked with a bipartisan group of her colleagues to ask the US Army Corps of Engineers to prioritize NESP construction along the Upper Mississippi River,” the spokesman said.
Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas claimed in a January website post that he secured $75 million for a creek restoration project in his district that came from the infrastructure bill despite voting against the bill. Gonzalez had also said the infrastructure bill would “only make things worse and hold our country back.”
Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida also voted against the bill, but in January he toured a new levee in the Everglades and tried to take credit for “securing an unprecedented $1 billion for Everglades restoration, the largest single amount ever ever made available by the federal government.”
CNN previously reached out to the lawmakers for comment.
“The Lead’s” review found that other congressional Republicans who opposed the bill but tried to get it passed include: Rep. Gary Palmer of Alabama, Rep. Michelle Steel of California, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana, Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, Rep. Pete Stauber of Minnesota, Rep. Yvette Herrell of New Mexico, Rep. Kay Granger of Texas, Rep. Rob Wittman of Virginia and Rep. Ken Calvert of California.
The infrastructure bill was a major bipartisan victory for the President and congressional Democrats, and 19 Republican senators and 13 House Republicans voted in favor of the bill. The law invests $550 billion in new federal funding into America’s infrastructure over five years, including money for roads, bridges, mass transit, rail, airports, ports and waterways.
The President last year criticized Republican lawmakers who mocked parts of the Covid-19 emergency relief law that benefit their constituents, saying: “Some people have no shame.”
Unlike the infrastructure act, no Republicans in Congress voted for the American Bailout. Biden noted in a speech in May that several Republicans were touting parts of the $1.9 trillion package that had gone to their home districts. He didn’t name any of the Republicans in his speech, but held up a piece of paper with names of lawmakers and the parts of the law they had promoted.
