Republicans adding policy riders to budget plan

WASHINGTON – In recent weeks, Republican lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced a number of amendments to spending bills.

The Clean Budget Coalition, made up of nearly 260 advocacy groups, said these riders are aimed at limiting the government’s ability to combat misinformation, extremism, and attacks on voting rights.

The coalition has been following the drafting of appropriations bills by Republican lawmakers.

One of the amendments would block funding for investigations into politically sensitive issues unless they are overseen by a nonpartisan staffer.

Another amendment would prohibit the use of funds to classify communications “by a U.S. person as misinformation, disinformation, or malinformation”

Republicans also included two amendments against voting rights in the legislation.

One would prohibit the use of funds for lawsuits against state or local governments related to redistricting. The other would block implementation of Biden’s executive order promoting access to voting rights.

The Clean Budget Coalition called the amendments an attempt to suppress democracy by other means.

The coalition highlighted that Republicans signed the amendment clauses a day after Trump was indicted by a federal court in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

The coalition said that by refusing to fund such investigations, Republican lawmakers would “promote right-wing extremism, violence, disinformation, and conspiracy theories while undermining fair elections, democracy, and the rule of law.”

The supplemental clauses are expected to be a major point of contention in the upcoming spending fight on Capitol Hill.

“The attack on our democracy we saw on January 6th was a horrifically violent moment and an outgrowth of extremism, white nationalism, and anti-democratic rhetoric,” said Lisa Gilbert, executive vice president of Public Citizen and co-chair of the Clean Budget Coalition, of the attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in 2021. 

“We are seeing all of those trends continue in the culture war policies included in the GOP-drafted annual spending bills.”

The coalition highlighted the inclusion of the rider a day after Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the January 6, 2021 attack at the Capitol and the former president’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election after his loss to President Joe Biden.

Republican lawmakers are also attempting to block funds from being used to classify any communications “by a U.S. person as misinformation, disinformation, or malinformation” or to appoint an inspector general to prevent and address “supremacist, extremist, and criminal gang activities by members of the Armed Forces.”

In refusing to fund such investigations, said the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards, Republican lawmakers would foster “right-wing extremism, violence, disinformation, and conspiracy theories, while undermining fair elections, democracy, and the rule of law.”

The 2021 order moved to ensure federal workers have time off to vote and that people with disabilities have equal access to voting, established a steering group to address voting rights for Native Americans, and took other steps to make voting easier.

For months prior to the January 6 attack, Trump and his supporters claimed Democrats would use measures make voting more accessible, including mail-in voting, to “rig” the 2020 election and sowed discord that helped fuel the violent insurrection.

More than two-and-and-half years after the assault on the Capitol, and as Trump is facing significant charges for his alleged incitement of the riot, the coalition said Republicans are continuing to weaken the government’s ability to address similar attacks.

“These poison pills,” said Gilbert, “are an attempt to stymie our democracy by other means.”