纽约——纽约共和党众议员尼科尔·马利托基斯说，投票反对1.9万亿美元的美国救援计划让她感到痛苦。
但在接下来的几周，第一任期的共和党人发布了一份新闻稿，庆祝社区获得了超过370万美元的资助健康作为她的“成就”之一她说她为自己“将联邦资金带到该地区并回到纳税人的口袋里”而自豪。
Malliotakis并不孤单。
国会中的每个共和党人都投票反对总统提出的大规模流行病救助法案乔·拜登三个月前签署成为法律。但自早春投票以来，从纽约、印第安纳到德克萨斯州和华盛顿州的共和党人一直在推动他们努力争取击败的立法要素。
共和党人最喜欢的条款只代表了这部庞大法律的一小部分，这部法律为数百万美国人提供了1400美元的支票，将失业救济延长至9月份，增加了儿童税收抵免，为数百万低收入美国人提供了住房援助，并扩大了医疗保健服务覆盖范围。共和党人试图谈判一个较小的方案，认为拜登的计划过于昂贵，没有足够关注国家的健康和经济危机。
民主党人承诺将大流行救济投票——以及共和党对此的抵制——作为他们进入明年中期选举的政治战略的核心要素，因为他们捍卫着众议院和参议院微妙的多数席位。早期迹象表明，共和党人可能会努力捍卫他们对受欢迎的立法一揽子计划的反对意见，该计划旨在保护美国脆弱的经济复苏，此前美国面临着一个世纪以来最严重的公共卫生威胁。
共和党议员一直特别看好促进救援计划的餐馆振兴基金，该基金为苦苦挣扎的行业投入了286亿美元。该计划的申请于本周开始。
加州众议院少数党领袖凯文·麦卡锡在最近几天鼓励选民申请的至少八名共和党人中名列前茅。其他人包括参议员罗杰·威克。、和纽约代表Elise Stefanik格雷格·彭斯，印第安纳州。;海梅·埃雷拉·贝特勒，华盛顿。;贝斯·范·杜恩，R-Texas;特洛伊巴尔德森，R-俄亥俄州;和俄亥俄州的安东尼·冈萨雷斯。
斯特凡尼克的发言人卡洛林·莱维特说:“这位国会议员正在利用她的平台向她的选民通报他们可以获得的联邦资金和资源。”“她在推特上没有声称支持该法案，她的选民应该知道他们可以申请的联邦项目，无论她如何投票。”
威克的办公室指出，他投票反对全部方案，但领导努力确保餐厅救济包括在内。
“参议员威克共同撰写了修正案，成功地将餐厅条款添加到和解法案中。他为什么不想鼓励参与?”柳条公司发言人菲利普·沃勒说。
独立餐馆联盟承认共和党的尴尬地位，但还是表示了感谢。
“威克参议员没有投票赞成该方案(我们希望所有成员都投了票!)，但他从一开始就致力于《餐馆法》，这使得救助基金成为可能。“我们非常感谢这项工作。”
白宫发言人安德鲁·贝茨讽刺地对共和党人表示赞赏，他们已经开始吹捧拜登的刺激计划。
贝茨说:“美国人民——大多数民主党人、无党派人士和共和党人——长期以来坚定地团结在美国救援计划的背后。”。“因此，看到国会中的共和党人越过过道支持它，甚至是追溯性的支持，令人振奋。”
共和党立场的政治很复杂。
在联合反对巴拉克·奥巴马总统于2009年签署成为法律的大规模经济刺激计划后，共和党最终在政治上受益。第二年，共和党在众议院和参议院获得了巨大的胜利。虽然共和党乐观地认为，它将在2022年重新获得众议院多数席位，但尚不清楚刺激计划的投票是否有助于它实现这一目标。
民调显示，拜登的刺激计划非常受欢迎。在最近的民意调查中，三分之二的选民一贯支持1.9万亿美元的一揽子计划，而向个人直接支付1400美元等个人因素甚至更受欢迎。
就在该法案签署成为法律三个月后，共和党反对派才开始接受考验。
民主党全国委员会已经在亚利桑那州、佐治亚州、威斯康星州、内华达州、新罕布什尔州、佛罗里达州、北卡罗来纳州和宾夕法尼亚州启动了对当地新闻网站的“数字收购”，以感谢民主党人并强调共和党的阻挠。白宫的政治部门还在20个州张贴广告牌，号召共和党人，并在为民主党官员培训时重点关注共和党反对派。
“从现在到明年的中期选举，我们将确保每个选民都记得共和党人是如何阻止经济繁荣和我们恢复正常的，”民主党全国委员会发言人Ammar Moussa说。“当共和党人试图兜售他们投票反对的相同项目时，你可以指望民主党人会指责他们的虚伪。”
除了为餐馆提供资金，共和党人还在最新的刺激计划中兜售分配给他们地区的数百万美元的医疗保健拨款。
共和党众议员麦迪逊·卡沃恩(Madison Cawthorn)在3月底指出，社交媒体上有数百万美元的此类资助，他说，看到纳税人的钱回到他的地区，他“感到自豪”。一位发言人没有回应置评请求。
弗吉尼亚州共和党众议员亚历克斯·穆尼(Alex Mooney)几乎在同一时间发布了一份新闻稿，宣传他所在地区12个医疗保健中心的4100多万美元。
“我很高兴这笔资金得到了保障，”他说，但没有提及资金是如何得到保障的。
这位四届共和党国会议员在一份声明中为自己本周强调拨款的决定进行了辩护。
穆尼说:“不管任何人声称什么，国会挪用的所有资金都来自纳税人，而不是拜登总统。”。“纳税人应该知道他们的钱是怎么花的，尤其是当它影响到他们的城镇和社区时。”
今年1月上任的马利托基斯在自己发行的“第一个100天成绩单”中，推动了拜登刺激计划中超过370万美元的医疗保健拨款。
“这些赠款是我一直支持的9%的新冠肺炎赈灾资金之一，”马利托基斯在一份声明中说。“不管任何特定的投票，我都将帮助个人、小企业和非营利组织获得他们有权获得的资金。”
Republicans promote pandemic relief they voted against
NEW YORK -- Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said it pained her to vote against the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.
But in the weeks that followed, the first-term Republican issued a news release celebrating more than $3.7 million from the package that went to communityhealthcenters in her district as one of her “achievements.” She said she prided herself on “bringing federal funding to the district and back into the pockets of taxpayers.”
Malliotakis is far from alone.
Every Republican in Congress voted against the sweeping pandemic relief bill that PresidentJoe Bidensigned into law three months ago. But since the early spring votes, Republicans from New York and Indiana to Texas and Washington state have promoted elements of the legislation they fought to defeat.
The Republicans' favorite provisions represent a tiny sliver of the massive law, which sent $1,400 checks to millions of Americans, extended unemployment benefits until September, increased the child tax credit, offered housing assistance for millions of low-income Americans and expandedhealth carecoverage. Republicans tried to negotiate a smaller package, arguing that Biden's plan was too expensive and not focused enough on the nation’s health and economic crises.
Democrats are promising to make the pandemic relief vote — and the Republican resistance to it — a central element in their political strategy moving into next year's midterm elections as they defend delicate House and Senate majorities. And there are early signs that Republicans may struggle to defend their opposition to the popular legislative package, which was designed to protect the nation's fragile economic recovery following the worst public health threat in a century.
GOP lawmakers have been especially bullish about promoting the rescue plan's Restaurant Revitalization Fund, which devoted $28.6 billion to the struggling industry. Applications for the program opened this week.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., topped a group of at least eight Republicans who have encouraged constituents to apply in recent days. The others included Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Reps. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.; Greg Pence, R-Ind.; Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash.; Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas; Troy Balderson, R-Ohio; and Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio.
“The Congresswoman is using her platform to inform her constituents of federal funds and resources available to them,” Stefanik spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said. “She did not claim to support the bill in the tweet, and her constituents deserve to know about federal programs they can apply for regardless of how she votes.”
Wicker's office noted that he voted against the full package, but led efforts to ensure the restaurant relief was included.
“Sen. Wicker co-authored the amendment that successfully added the Restaurant provision to the reconciliation bill. Why wouldn’t he want to encourage participation?” Wicker spokesman Phillip Waller said.
The Independent Restaurant Coalition acknowledged the Republican's awkward position, but offered its thanks anyway.
“Senator Wicker did not vote for the package (we wish all members did!), but his work on the RESTAURANTS Act from the beginning made the relief fund possible,” the industry group tweeted. “We are grateful for that work.”
And White House spokesman Andrew Bates sarcastically expressed appreciation for the Republicans who have begun to tout elements of Biden’s stimulus.
“The American people — majorities of Democrats, independents, and Republicans — have long been firmly unified behind the American Rescue Plan,” Bates said. “So it’s heartening to see Republicans in Congress reaching across the aisle to endorse it — even retroactively.”
The politics of the Republican position are complicated.
The GOP ultimately benefited politically after uniting against the massive economic stimulus package signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2009. Republicans scored massive gains in the House and Senate the following year. While the GOP is optimistic it will retake the House majority in 2022, it's far from clear whether the stimulus vote will help it get there.
Polling suggests the Biden stimulus is overwhelmingly popular. Two in 3 voters have consistently supported the $1.9 trillion package in recent polling, while individual elements such as the $1,400 direct payments to individuals are even more popular.
And just three months after the bill was signed into law, the Republican opposition has only begun to be tested.
The Democratic National Committee has already launched “digital takeovers” of local news websites in Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada, New Hampshire, Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania to thank Democrats and highlight the Republican obstruction. The White House's political arm has also put up billboards in 20 states calling out Republicans and focused on the Republican opposition in training for Democratic officials.
“Between now and next year’s midterm elections, we’re going to make sure every voter remembers how Republicans tried to stand in the way of this economic boom and our return to normalcy," said DNC spokesman Ammar Moussa. "And you can count on Democrats to call Republicans out for their hypocrisy when they try to tout the same programs they voted against.”
Beyond funding for restaurants, Republicans have also touted millions of dollars in health care grants allocated to their districts in the latest stimulus plan.
Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., in late March pointed to millions of dollars in such grants on social media, saying he was “proud” to see the taxpayer dollars returning to his district. A spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., issued a news release at roughly the same time to promote more than $41 million spread across 12 health care centers in his district.
“I am glad that this funding has been secured," he said, neglecting to mention how it was secured.
The four-term Republican congressman defended his decision to highlight the grants this week in a statement.
“Despite what anyone claims, all money that is appropriated by Congress is derived from the taxpayer, not President Biden," Mooney said. “Taxpayers deserve to know how their money is being spent, especially as it affects their towns and communities.”
Malliotakis, who took office in January, promoted more than $3.7 million in health care grants from the Biden stimulus among her achievements in a self-issued “First 100 Days Report Card.”
"These grants were among the 9% of funds dedicated to COVID-19 relief that I was always in support of," Malliotakis said in a statement. “Regardless of any particular vote, I’m going to help individuals, small businesses and nonprofit organizations get funding they are entitled to."
