In late January, Democratic Representative Kristen McDonald Rivet held a press conference celebrating $866,000 in federal funding she had lobbied Congress to include in a late 2025 appropriations bill.
“In an emergency, every second counts. Firefighters know that better than anyone else,” she wrote in a post–press conference social media post, which included photos of her standing beside firefighters. “We just announced new federal funding that will help the Bridgeport Fire Department respond faster and protect firefighters from dangerous toxins.”
Left unmentioned in McDonald Rivet’s remarks was the fact that she voted against the mammoth spending bill that secured the Bridgeport Fire Department funding for her own district.
Like many swing-seat House Democrats who had lobbied appropriators to include community funding projects in their districts last year, McDonald Rivet opposed the appropriations bill that included fire-station-facility improvement funding that she’d specifically earmarked over concerns that the appropriations bill in question didn’t extend the enhanced, pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that were set to phase out on January 1.
McDonald Rivet is not alone in championing community-project funding she voted against. The Michigan congresswoman’s “no” vote is part of a larger trend in Congress in recent years, where many members oppose mammoth spending bills only to take credit for earmarked community funding projects on the campaign trail.
The trend demonstrates the increasingly partisan nature of the congressional appropriations process, with stopgap spending bills now routinely entangled in larger political battles over domestic policy issues. During the first year of Trump’s second term, for example, congressional Democrats have frequently opposed GOP-drafted appropriations bills to protest the administration’s policies related to Elon Musk’s cost-cutting efforts, expiring health-care subsidies, and immigration enforcement.
Describing this political phenomenon back in 2021, then–House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) coined the term “vote no and take the dough” to preempt House Republican efforts to take credit for the Biden-era infrastructure and pandemic relief bills back home. And yet years later, vulnerable members of Pelosi’s own party have developed a track record for doing exactly that.
In December, a handful of swing-district House Democrats hit the campaign trail to tout federal funding toward infrastructure projects in their home districts that they’d also opposed.
“In May, I urged the House Appropriations Committee to allocate new federal funding for a fire truck for the Bellerose Village Fire Department and successfully secured $938,000,” freshman Representative Laura Gillen (D., N.Y.) wrote in a social media post praising the announcement. “I am delighted that this funding is now headed to Bellerose to help our first responders.”
And yet just like swing-district Democrats April McClain Delaney of Maryland, Josh Riley of New York, and Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico, Gillen voted against the bill that secured the federal funding for her district over concerns that the bill did not include an extension of the expiring health-care subsidies Democrats lobbied for.
The “vote no and take the dough” strategy has continued into the new year as Democrats are starting to take credit for funding they opposed in the recently passed stopgap funding bill to end the four-day partial government shutdown prompted by disagreements over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement strategy.
On February 4, for example, Representative Greg Landsman (D., Ohio) touted $14 million in federal funding for community projects in southwest Ohio that were included in the appropriations bill that the congressman had joined most of his Democratic colleagues in voting against the day before.
“Each year, members of Congress can submit projects to the House Appropriations Committee for federal funding through the Community Project Funding process,” Landsman wrote in a press release celebrating the funding. “From affordable housing to infrastructure and parks, Congressman Landsman is delivering $14,225,000 for 14 community-led projects through funding bills that are now law.”
Audrey Fahlberg is a politics reporter for National Review.
Reprinted with Permission from National Review by Audrey Fahlberg.
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
Every day there is more evidence showing how truly evil and deranged these radicals have become. Their treatment of President Trump is truly shocking! I never dreamed that our country would become so divided between good and evil. We must NOT let them take control in the midterms nor the 2028 elections or we will lose our great Constitutional Republic to Communism!!
Devious demoncrats. I don’t know how they can stand themselves.
“Monkey see, monkey do”. Or in this case, Democrats do then take the taxpayer money into their own pocket.
Democrats are totally dependent on a reputation they acquired fifty years ago and sold-out not long after. That reputation being they were representatives of the working middle class and the poor. They have exploited than reputation ever since. Trading it for votes because they have no legitimate ideas of their own other than bribing the dependent with freebies.
How low can they go? I am in awe of the depth of some politicians’ hypocrisy.
Typical shady and underhanded morals by Democrats. Disgusting.
STOP VOTING FOR THEM.
The Democratic Party and their allies are liars, thieves, murders and no good pieces of trash who want to destroy our country!
Nothing the dems do is surprising. Just mind boggling how they get away with everything!!
The Democrats never cease to amaze me. They are everything you hope and pray your children will never grow up to do.
Yet another example of Democrat hypocrisy. By now, ALL VOTERS have seen repeated examples of their dishonesty, including taking credit where none is due. But, American Democrat voters will look past all of that to vote these morally bankrupt elected “representatives” to the positions they both enjoy and abuse. The problem is not in our government…it’s in a significant portion of our citizenry.
Demomcrats are the definition of epitome evil, lying vermin..
The democrats run rings around our laws by politicized judges supporting them. And Congress the democrats have found a way around not voting for Trump’s bill and when it passes later under this now you see it now you don’t the democrats have created all this out of thin air in an upside down way to undermine Trump. Lie after lie. Innuendo after innuendo. Fraud after fraud. Creating a narrative that the economy is bad. But here in a dem state the parking lots are full in every shopping center you see or go to. Not only in the weekend. Even Monday mornings. The economy is a lot better than it was under Biden. Prices have come down. President Trump created a lot of income with the tariffs. The 36+
trillion dollars we are in debt needs to be paid down. The tariffs were making that possible. So we all paid a dollar or two more. It was going for the economy that makes all of us prosperous. Biden printed money and made the dollar worthless. President Trump is making the dollar strong again. But not with any help from the dems. Biden made everything unaffordable. Car prices doubled if not tripled. Housing prices doubled in 4 years under Biden including those who were renting. And Hakeem Jeffries screams every day where is that affordability Trump kept talking about on the campaign trail. Hell if Biden hadn’t sold America to the Ukraine with billions and billions of dollars being spent there without any accountability. The Money DOGE found USAid wasted all over the world again withOUT any accountability. Because in the Biden administration every politician enjoyed some of that unaccountable money that went for the strangest things all over the world but helped not one person. And now they are screaming Trump where is the affordability. We know where it is. In the pockets of the politicians like Pelosi, Sanders, AOC, Omar, Tlaib, Crockett Pocahontas and many others who became multi millionaires in 1 year’s time. And hated this country more every day. Look what Newsom said yesterday how he cut down black people because his SAT score was only 960. They don’t care about anyone they just use them as voters and throw them in the trash bin when they are elected. President Trump made promises and kept them. Which seldom happen in the political world after they are elected. And this system of not passing a bill that has all the perks in it and then later proposing that section of the bill and it passed is not only unethical it is amoral. It’s Satan at work. They have no reason to disrespect the office of President. Boycott the speech tonite. They are a bunch of spoiled children that have no leadership. All they have are lies and brainwashing. Wake up America it’s now or never if we keep our America land of the FREE because of the BRAVE.
Ever-present, disingenuous, lying, Nancy Pelosi revealing her true colors with “vote no and take the dough” mindset. And, I’m sure her colleagues, friends and family have the same mindset . It’s no wonder why our country is going downhill ethically, morally, and education-wise where more Nancy Pelosis are being cranked out and foisted on the God fearing, law abiding, country and constitution loving people of this country.
The truth of who voted for or against what by politicians needs much greater exposure!
This information needs to be concentrated and repeatedly published, broadcast, and individually mailed to voters in the affected districts. Amac members respond well to these articles, but the message must be drummed in the affected locales
Their is no imperative of greater exigency than to unseat each and every socialist democrat and Islamic terrorist member of the U.S. Congress and all levels of the judiciary, DOJ, FBI, CIA, Secret Service, ATF, and EPA before they completely destroy our great nation. They take money from foreign nations that aim to bring great harm to the American people.,
DJT calls Washington THE SWAMP!! I THINK SNAKE PIT IS MORE appropriate. There are more sneaky people in Congress than I have ever seen. When these Representatives talk about lying and twisting their ways to get an idea passed how much must their constituents think of that? Is that a good thing? DJT is by far the most TRANSPARENT PRESIDENT in my lifetime.I can only hope and pray that the creatures in Congress somehow get a come to JESUS moment and see into their souls. They are trying to destroy this beautiful country because they do not understand our Constitution.why do people have this innate need to control the population? Why do they need to keep all the riches for themselves? Many of you speak of DJT being guilty of greed and crazy. That is just not so. We were built on resilience. It is time to start behaving that way.Amen MAGA MAGA MAGA
How can anyone be surprised? Actually SURPRISED?!
As usual, Democrats voted against passage of the bills to fund those projects and programs because the funding didn’t include all that they wanted. They didn’t approve the funding of those projects and programs, even though they claim that they favored them, in order to hold them hostage for more money. They don’t hesitate to take credit for those projects and programs, but that’s not how they voted. They could have cooperated in the passage of the funding that the majority supported and then introduced additional bills to try to secure approval of more funds, but they preferred to engage in legislative extorsion.
How Dems & DC Estd Operate
The most priceless moment I remember about Ms. Pelosi , was President Trumps first term and he was giving the State of the Union Address. Ms. Pelosi became so agitated with President Trump , her False Teeth fell out of her mouth and landed in her lap .
Awful democrats lie, cheat, and steal. How do these people sleep at night. Jimmy Kimmel’s wife said she doesn’t sleep at night and she doesn’t speak to her family. She just another depressed and mean lefty democrat person. No respect for other people!
Vote no and take the Dough
Politicians never say no to money.
Is any one surprised they take credit for things they didn’t support? They do it all the time. The are nothing but hypocrites, even more so now than ever.
Nancy will soon be doing infomercials for Forest Lawn .
Democrats vote criteria is use hate as your voting guidelines.Anything that conservatives approve of is bad because they are so far intellectually inferior.I have news for the uppity leftists,we aren’t as dumb as your feeble mind fathoms.Then there’s common sense,that is something that humans aren’t born with,they aguire it by doing,by hands on, figuring things out and that way one doesn’t forget.When have leftists held a hammer,or a wrench,or a garden trowel,or had to fix a major water leak on a weekend,It”ain’tgonna happen”,so I guess they will keep trying to destroy AMERICA with their vindictive”hissy fits”.
I hope some Democrat supporters actually read this story. When democrats pad the bill with all their wants and desires and then talk about how they support it sounds great.
But when you see that they actually voted against the bill you have to wonder what they were thinking.
And then later when you learn they are taking credit for the bill they voted against you realize that they are just doing what Democrats do. They followed Pelosi’s orders and ignored their constituents, again.
Little to no honesty on the Dem side. Our two party system has been corrupted on the Dem side, now the LEFT.
Differences are at the heart of our political system and negotiations are meant to bring the body politic around to the middle. Those days are gone. The LEFT will lie, cheat, and steal in their efforts to impose one party rule. Very little evidence of patriotism on that side.