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‘I Fought for It’: Republican Takes Credit for $650,000 in Federal Funds From Bill She Voted Against
U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar is the latest Republican to be caught taking credit for federal funds despite voting against the legislation that provided them.
“I’m proud to have secured funding that will create hundreds of jobs and help dozens of businesses grow” in her Florida district, Congresswoman Salazar wrote on the social media site X. Her post includes photos of her signing a large mockup of a check for $650,000, and standing holding it up. “Today, I launched the BizGap program with [Florida International University] which will help small businesses with coaching, marketing, websites, and more!”
Under her signature she wrote in block letters, “U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar FL-27,” the number of her district.
As a member of @HouseSmallBiz, I’m proud to have secured funding that will create hundreds of jobs and help dozens of businesses grow in #FL27.
Today, I launched the BizGap program with @FIU which will help small businesses with coaching, marketing, websites, and more! pic.twitter.com/4K5zTy4bz3
— Rep. María Elvira Salazar (@RepMariaSalazar) December 18, 2023
Yet Congresswoman Salazar voted against the legislation that provided those funds to her district, as Business Insider reports:
“That bill was the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, an ‘omnibus’ spending bill that passed at the end of last year, when Democrats still controlled both the House and the Senate.”
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She defended touting the $650,000 she voted against, which came from legislation passed by a Democratic House and Senate and signed into law by Democratic President Joe Biden, by telling Business Insider, “I can celebrate this victory because I fought for it and put my name on this Community Funding project.”
She added, “I voted against the Omnibus because Congressional Democrats, who had full control of Congress at the time, decided to advance reckless spending for an already bloated federal government.”
Last year Congresswoman Salazar also complained about a different kind of spending.
In a video she posted to social media, the Florida Republican complained about what she called the “through the roof” cost of back-to-school shopping, falsely telling her constituents that inflation was 40%. It was 8.3% at the time of her remarks. And while she blamed “Washington” for inflation, Congresswoman Salazar also joined with every House and Senate Republican in voting that year against the Inflation Reduction Act.
Salazar is an ally of the newly-elected far-right ultra-conservative president of Argentina, Javier Milei, and has several posts of her speaking in support of him on her social media account. She also re-posted an article touting her attendance at his inauguration.
Watch Congresswoman Salazar’s video below, and her social media photos above, or both at this link.
Hoy es el primer día de clases en Miami-Dade y los precios de los útiles escolares están por las nubes. El aumento de la inflación en Miami es el resultado directo de las malas decisiones tomadas en Washington… ¡Los padres no pueden pagar esto!
pic.twitter.com/EojZWpoJe7— María Elvira Salazar 🇺🇸 (@MaElviraSalazar) August 17, 2022
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