A handful of Republican senators are calling out President Donald Trump’s administration for halting billions of dollars in previously approved federal funding to Democratic states over what appear to be blatant political reasons amid the ongoing government shutdown.
White House budget director Russ Vought confirmed earlier this month that $18 billion in New York City infrastructure projects and $2.1 billion for similar projects in Chicago — as well as $8 billion in clean energy programs in 16 blue states — are being withheld.
This seemingly vindictive approach has led to varying criticism from some Republicans, including Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) as well as Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.).
Murkowski noted that the Trump administration is hurting untold members of its own base.
“You show me one blue state in America where you don’t have pockets, maybe even big pockets, of Republicans, of conservatives, of MAGA people, or pro-Trump,” she told The Hill reporter Alexander Bolton in an article published Tuesday. “Do we not care about them?”
