According to reporting by RealClear Investigation, the group of eight Democratic, progressive US House members, led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, known as “The Squad,” have filed $224 million of earmarks in the federal budget since 2023 to fund pet projects based around their far-left ideologies.
Twenty-one of the earmarks funded environmental justice and clean energy projects, focal points of the Green New Deal championed by The Squad. Those include Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s (MA) $1 million earmark for “a network of intergenerational, trauma-informed waterfront green spaces” and $2 million to help “low-income BIPOC residents … stay cool during increasingly hot summers.”
It also includes a $1.7 million earmark from Rep. Jamaal Bowman (NY) to the Environmental Leaders of Color. The nonprofit’s goal is to “assist marginalized communities in preparing for climate change’s adverse effects … so that they can thrive like healthy plants in their natural ecosystem.”
Rep. Greg Casar (TX) secured $1 million for the San Antonio College Empowerment Center, which helps undocumented students enroll in the school. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez requested $500,000 for New Immigrant Community Empowerment, which has advocated for citizenship for all illegal immigrants.
The Squad filed a total of 113 earmarks worth $111.4 million in the 2024 federal budget. They secured 90 earmarks for $112.7 million last year when the group had only six members.
As our national debt approaches $35 trillion, there is simply no reason that taxpayer funds should be hijacked to hand out politically motivated freebies for far-left and unpopular agendas!