A whopping 43 of the 58 House Republicans who voted against a disaster relief bill have in the past asked for aid for their own districts. Because if one thing is predictable in American politics, it’s Republican hypocrisy.
ThinkProgress analyzed past statements of the anti-disaster-aid Republicans to find statements such as the one from Minnesota's Tom Emmer, issued just last week with other members of his state’s delegation, to “strongly encourage” the Trump administration “to issue a disaster declaration in a timely manner. Such a move will allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to begin to help impacted communities access federal assistance for debris removal and the repair of critical infrastructure.” Or Kentucky’s Andy Barr, James Comer, and Thomas Massie, who signed on to a similar statement in April.
The list includes Alabama’s Mo Brooks and Gary Palmer; Arizona’s Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Debbie Lesko, and Dave Schweikert; California’s Duncan Hunter and Tom McClintock; Colorado’s Ken Buck and Doug Lamborn; Florida’s Francis Rooney; Idaho’s Russ Fulcher; Illinois’ Darin LaHood; Indiana’s Trey Hollingsworth; Kentucky’s Barr, Comer, and Massie; Kansas’ Ron Estes; Louisiana’s Clay Higgins and Mike Johnson; Maryland’s Andy Harris; Michigan’s Justin Amash, Jack Bergman, and Bill Huizenga; Minnesota’s Emmer; Montana’s Greg Gianforte; North Carolina’s Ted Budd, Virginia Foxx, Mark Meadows, and Mark Walker; Ohio’s Steve Chabot, Jim Jordan, and Brad Wenstrup; South Carolina’s Jeff Duncan; Tennessee’s Tim Burchett and Scott DesJarlais; Texas’ Michael Cloud, Lance Gooden, and John Ratcliffe; Utah’s John Curtis; Virginia’s Rob Wittman; West Virginia’s Alex Mooney; and Wisconsin’s Glenn Grothman and James Sensenbrenner.