House G.O.P. Defunds L.G.B.T.Q. Centers by Banning Earmarks for NonprofitsFull ArticleThe New York Times - Catie Edmondson, Reporting from the Capitol
May 14, 2024, 5:02 a.m. ET
Under pressure from the right to stop funding L.G.B.T.Q. projects but wary of alienating Democrats, Republicans have a new solution: bar lawmakers from steering any federal money to individual nonprofit groups.
When Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee moved unilaterally last summer to nix federal funding requested by Democrats for three programs serving the L.G.B.T.Q. community, the normally collegial spending panel erupted in partisan strife.
Now House Republicans, facing mounting pressure from conservative groups and hard-line lawmakers in their own ranks to choke off federal funding for L.G.B.T.Q. groups, are trying to avoid another battle with Democrats over the issue by simply barring nonprofit organizations of any kind from receiving federal funding through earmarks.
In an announcement late last month, Representative Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma and the new chairman of the appropriations panel, said the change was an effort to "ensure projects are consistent with the community development goals of the federal program."
The effect will be to turn off the spigot of federal funds for an array of organizations supported by both Democrats and Republicans, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. --------------------
