There is a move some politicians pull that is so simple it almost works. Vote against a bill. Let it pass anyway. Then, when the money shows up back home, put out a press release taking credit for it.

The Associated Press caught a whole group of Republicans doing it in May 2021, a few weeks after the American Rescue Plan became law. Three of the members named in that reporting are still in Congress today: Nicole Malliotakis of New York, Beth Van Duyne of Texas, and Troy Balderson of Ohio.

It is worth going back and looking at what they did, because they never stopped doing it.

First, the vote

On March 10, 2021, the House passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. The official roll call is not complicated to read. Republicans: 0 yes, 210 no.

Malliotakis voted no. Van Duyne voted no. Balderson voted no. So did every other Republican in the House, and every Republican in the Senate.

The bill they voted against sent $1,400 checks to millions of people, extended unemployment benefits, raised the child tax credit, paid for rent help, and put money into health centers and vaccines.

Then, the press release

Thirty-four days later, Malliotakis published a document on her official House website called her "First 100 Days Report Card." It is a list of things she wants credit for.

Near the bottom, under "Total amount of Federal grants administered," she lists $3,785,875. The two biggest items are $2,622,250 to the Community Health Center of Richmond and $1,118,625 to the Beacon Christian Community Health Center.

That is more than $3.7 million for community health centers on Staten Island. It came from the bill she had voted against five weeks earlier.

In the same report card, she wrote that her office "prides itself" on "bringing federal funding to the district and back into the pockets of taxpayers."

When the AP asked her about it, she had an answer ready:

"These grants were among the 9% of funds dedicated to COVID-19 relief that I was always in support of."

About that 9%

The "only 9% of the bill is actually COVID relief" line was a Republican talking point that spring. Snopes rated it Mostly False.

Here is why. About 9% of the bill paid for vaccines, testing, and protective gear — fighting the virus directly. But that number leaves out the $1,400 checks, which were more than 20% of the bill all by themselves. It leaves out unemployment benefits. It leaves out money to reopen schools, and rent help. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget found that only about 15% of the bill went to things not tied to the crisis.

But set the number aside, because it does not actually rescue the argument.

There was no vote on "the 9%." There was one bill and one vote. Malliotakis says she supported the health center money. She had exactly one chance to support it, and she voted no. If her vote had won, the Community Health Center of Richmond would have received nothing.

The restaurant fund is the worst part

The American Rescue Plan created the Restaurant Revitalization Fund — $28.6 billion for restaurants that had been crushed by the shutdowns. Applications opened in early May 2021.

Van Duyne and Balderson were both on the AP's list of at least eight Republicans who went out and encouraged their constituents to apply. Neither had voted for the fund. Both told people to go get the money.

Fine — tell your constituents what is available. But watch what happened next.

The money ran out almost immediately. The Small Business Administration's inspector general later reported that 278,300 restaurants applied, asking for $72.2 billion. The SBA approved about 101,000 of them and spent all $28.6 billion.

Do the subtraction. Roughly 177,000 applications went unfunded. The GAO found that just over 100,000 businesses received funding — about 40% of eligible applicants. Some of the restaurants left out were ones Van Duyne and Balderson had told to apply.

So in April 2022, the House voted on the Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act — a bill to refill the fund and pay the restaurants still waiting in line.

It passed 223 to 203. Six Republicans voted yes. One hundred ninety-nine voted no.

Malliotakis voted no. Van Duyne voted no. Balderson voted no.

Then the Senate finished it off. On May 19, 2022, a $48 billion version of the aid package was blocked by a filibuster — 52 senators voted to move it forward, 43 voted no, and it needed 60. Only five Republicans voted to let it proceed.

The fund was never refilled. Those restaurants never got their money.

That is the whole cycle in one program. Vote against creating it. Tell your constituents to apply for it. Vote against refilling it when it runs dry. Then say nothing when they lose.

They are still running the play

None of this is ancient history. The same three members are in Congress right now, and the pattern has only gotten more expensive for the people back home.

On July 3, 2025, all three voted for Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill." The nonpartisan Joint Economic Committee estimated what the health care cuts in that bill would do district by district. Their numbers:

• NY-11 (Malliotakis): about 36,900 people lose coverage
• TX-24 (Van Duyne): about 28,900 people lose coverage
• OH-12 (Balderson): about 28,100 people lose coverage

Read those two paragraphs together. In 2021, Malliotakis put out a press release taking credit for $3.7 million she voted against sending to health centers in Staten Island. In 2025, she voted for a bill projected to take health coverage from nearly 37,000 people in that same district.

She has not sent out a press release about that one.

What to take from this

A press release is not a vote. A tweet telling you to apply for a program is not a vote. A ribbon cutting is not a vote.

The roll call is the vote, and the roll call is public. Anyone can look it up in about a minute — that is the whole reason these members can put out a report card claiming credit for money they tried to block, and mostly get away with it. They are counting on you not checking.

Check.

Source

Steve Peoples, "Republicans promote pandemic relief they voted against," Associated Press, May 6, 2021. Photo: AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool, File.