President Trump signed the more than $2 trillion coronavirus relief package on Friday and said it would help American workers across the country — but the bill also includes millions for items unrelated to the pandemic.
Fox News counted them up and found nearly $12 billion in spending that has a tenuous or disputed connection to the emergency.
The final bill includes:
- $10,804,687,000 for international development
- $350,000,000 for refugee resettlement
- $93,000,000 Congress ($25 million of which is for
“salaries and expenses”) - $75,000,000 for PBS stations
- $75,000,000 for the National Foundation on the Arts
and Humanities - $75,000,000 National Endowment for the Humanities
- $50,000,000 for the Institute of Museum and Library
Services - $25,000,000 for the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts
- $7,500,000 for the Smithsonian Institution
Critics slammed those provisions of the bill.
“It shouldn’t be stuffed full of Nancy Pelosi’s pork — including $25 million for the Kennedy Center, grants for the National Endowment for the Humanities and Arts, and millions more for other measures that have no direct relation to the Coronavirus Pandemic,” tweeted Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., the lone congressman who tried to force a roll call vote that would have delayed the bill.
The questionably-relevant spending items come alongside stimulus that gives $1,200 payments ($2,400 for married couples) to individuals and hundreds of billions in loans and aid to businesses.
Backers of the bill say some questionable items are not as ridiculous as they may sound.
On Wednesday, Trump was asked about the $25 million allocated to the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in D.C.
“The Kennedy Center has suffered greatly because nobody can go there,” Trump responded. “It’s essentially closed, and they do need some funding. And I said, ‘look’ — that was a Democrat request. That was not my request. But you got to give them something. It’s something that they wanted. You know, it works that way.”
Read and get the links at: Very Questionable Spending
