New York Congressman Dan Goldman is calling out his House colleague and fellow New Yorker Elise Stefanik after her vow to secure for her constituency federal money she fights against appropriating.
Goldman says Stefanik is part of the Republican leadership that “wants to cut federal funding, including FEMA.” Yet when their districts need funds for an emergency, Goldman asserts, these same lawmakers expect the federal support.
Goldman is reacting to Stefanik’s recent tweet, after floods slammed her New York district, in which the Congresswoman wrote: “This dire situation must be addressed immediately. My office is working to ensure we can work to deliver federal funds to begin the recovery.”
Republican leadership — including @elisestefanik — wants to cut federal funding, including FEMA.
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) July 13, 2023
But when disaster strikes in their districts, they immediately run to FEMA to get that federal funding. https://t.co/KIs1Lg4Zs1
Stefanik has bragged about getting funding before, after tapping funds she voted against supplying. As Politico reported in 2022: “House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) is again touting money for projects that were funded by President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid relief package last year — a bill she voted against.”
And Stefanik has been effective historically at winning FEMA funds for her constituency, as Goldman alludes to. In 2021 the Congresswoman secured nearly $375,000 for fire departments in her district.
“Congresswoman Elise Stefanik today announced the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is granting $377,893,” a press release stated, “to seven North Country fire departments in Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Lewis, Clinton, and Washington Counties.”
Goldman is hardly alone in lashing out at lawmakers who, like Rep. Stefanik, take money they don’t favor appropriating.
President Joe Biden recently trolled Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, telling the Senator he would see him “at the groundbreaking.”
Alabama received $1.4 billion in federal aid to ramp up broadband in the state, funding that was made possible by the Biden infrastructure bill that Tuberville and the other Alabama Senator at the time, Richard Shelby, voted against.
Broadband is vital for the success of our rural communities and for our entire economy.
— Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) June 27, 2023
Great to see Alabama receive crucial funds to boost ongoing broadband efforts. https://t.co/bLvQlSS3LH
Despite his vote against Alabama receiving federal funds to seed the broadband program, Sen. Tuberville tweeted that it was “great to see” Alabama get the money.
Tuberville characterized the federal dollars as a boost to “ongoing” broadband efforts in the state which, according Yellow Hammer News, had invested $88.6 million over the past five years in various broadband initiatives.
After averaging an investment of less than $18 million per year, a $1.4 billion federal windfall is more than a boost, which provoked Biden’s trolling remark.
