This week, the House of Representatives descended into chaos on LGBTQ policy, with Democrats melodramatically accusing Republicans of acting like “terrorists.”
A report shows that due to Democrats’ rowdy behavior over a Republican proposal to the Transportation Department spending bill that would cut funding for a few LGBTQ facilities, the House Appropriations Committee went into break three times during the day.
It’s one of several in a slew of amendments relating to the culture war that House Republicans have proposed in recent weeks, and it’s certain to cause a lot of ire among individual representatives since it would cut funding for pet projects back in their home districts.
Republican appropriators adopted a measure to reject several of President Joe Biden’s budget plans for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and reduce funding for the Department of Transportation.
A report shows that a total of roughly $90.3 billion in discretionary funding for the two departments and allied agencies was approved by a vote of 34 to 27 in the entire House Appropriations Committee, which is $8.5 billion below Biden’s proposal.
Many programs that promote diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) would lose their federal support as a result of this measure, including those who use those monies to spread critical race theory.
The plan eliminates 19 grant programs and decreases funding by 25% compared to fiscal 2023 levels, according to Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies subcommittee chairman Tom Cole (R-OK).
Democrats and Republicans initially praised the markup, but Cole’s amendment to prohibit the display of the “gay pride” flag in government buildings and the funding of organizations that promote transgender medical procedures threw the hearing into disarray.
A final vote of 32–26 approved Cole’s amendment.
The report shows Democrats’ efforts to put progressive wish list items in the bill were thwarted by Republican opposition. These included support for measures to combat climate change, the California High-Speed Rail project, and expansions of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.
The whole House will vote on whether or not to adopt the package, but the Senate, which is now crafting its own variants of the spending bills under Democrat leadership, is expected to provide significant obstacles to its approval.
