Congress

Rep. Nancy Mace celebrated a public transit project in her district that was made possible by the infrastructure law, which she called a “socialist wish list” and a “fiasco.”

Illustration by Jade Cuevas/POLITICO (source images via Getty Images)

By Katherine Tully-McManus

06/10/2024 05:00 AM EDT

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Billions of dollars in infrastructure funding are flowing into cities and towns nationwide, nearly three years after Congress passed a $1.2 trillion bipartisan bill approving the cash.

And some vulnerable House Republicans are tacitly taking credit for the local funds, despite opposing that bill.

Those moves will test how much voters care about federal dollars’ ability to create local jobs and investments and how much credit they’re willing to give lawmakers who are playing both sides of the issue.

Only 13 House GOP lawmakers voted for the 2021 law to fund roads, rails and bridges, a deal shaped in large part by Senate negotiators whom conservatives mistrust. Some of those 13 left Congress after facing threats from the right and vociferous criticism from former President Donald Trump, who said they should be “ashamed of themselves.” The vast majority of Republicans opposed the bill due to the huge price tag, and many simply didn’t want to give President Joe Biden a win.

But almost three years later, the slow-moving machinery of the federal........

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