Key GOP Budget Cutter Exempts District From Belt-Tightening

Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY)
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Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) just can’t seem to stick to his new diet goal of abstaining from steering millions of federal dollars to his cash-strapped district.

Earlier this year, the chairman of the top House spending panel who made a career out of earmarking millions of dollars to district pet projects, joined the GOP budget austerity movement spurred by the Tea Party-fueled GOP takeover of the House.

Rogers swore off all earmarks, pledged to trim the fat from the federal budget and played a key role in shepherding a two-week federal funding stopgap bill through the House, which cut $4 billion from the federal budget over 10 years.

He even told a McClatchy reporter March 6 that his own district would be among those suffering the most from Washington’s new era of deficit reduction.

“My district will be among the hardest hit by these cuts, but my people understand that everyone must tighten their belts during this time of crisis,” Rogers said.

Yet, just four days earlier, Rogers had sent two letters to the Department of Housing and Urban Development seeking federal funds for federal construction projects in his district, according to the letters obtained by TPM. Both sought HUD Rural Innovations Funds — one for a 14-unit apartment building to serve veterans and the “severely mentally ill” in Martin County, Ky. and the other requesting $2 million to construct a multi-use building for middle-to-low income residents in Corbin, Ky.

“I understand the fiscal constraints we are facing across the nation right now, and this application is an ideal way to meet both housing and economic development needs in Whitley County, Ky., a ‘distressed county’ as designated by the Appalachian Regional Commission,” Rogers wrote to Robert Duncan at HUD’s Office of Community and Planning in both letters.

On March 21, Peter Kovar, HUD’s assistant secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations, wrote back to Rogers, informing him that there are $25.7 million in funds available under the fiscal year 2010 Rural Innovation Fund grant competition.

He also noted that HUD would rate and rank all the applications “in accordance with the fair and uniform selection procedures” described in the initial notice.

Rogers’ office denied exerting undue influence over HUD’s competitive grant process by sending the March 2 letters and argued that he remains committed to the earmark moratorium.

“Like nearly all federal grant programs, these are competitive programs to which entities apply from all over the country and are subject to overall federal appropriations realities,” he told TPM in a written statement. “I am committed to the earmark moratorium and have committed my time as Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee to unprecedented spending cuts and transparency.”

“Grant opportunities are provided by government agencies, like HUD to bring vital services to Americans, such as housing for military veterans,” he added. “I will continue to enthusiastically support the requests of organizations and agencies in Kentucky’s Fifth Congressional District that are competing for the same grant dollars available to everyone who qualifies.”

During the last several years as Republican and Democrats on Capitol Hill debated whether to swear off earmarks and impose a moratorium on the practice, experts on Congressional funding warned of the myriad ways members could circumvent the rules by making direct requests to administration departments and agencies themselves. Requests are particularly powerful when they come from appropriators charged with controlling the purse strings and overall budgets of every federal department and agency.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, has been tracking Rogers’ prodigious earmarking for years. In its report titled “Pork Parade: Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood,” CREW found other ways Rogers has steered millions in federal dollars to a web of district recipients, despite the earmark moratorium.

“Rep. Rogers’ influence over the appropriations process and the ways he has structured federal spending in his southeastern Kentucky district leaves him perfectly positioned to direct money to favorite projects, regardless of the earmark ban,” the report finds.

“While we never bought Rep. Rogers’ claims he had reformed his porking ways, now we have proof positive,” Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director, tells TPM. “Rep. Rogers continues to funnel money to his district while preaching fiscal austerity for others. The hypocrisy never ends.”

Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense outlines a variety of ways powerful members of Congress can leverage their influence to push for the federal projects of their choice.

“In the absence of traditional earmarks, lawmakers turn to letter-marks to write and try to get executive branch officials to pony up cash to their pet projects,” Ellis said, a reference to the missives Rogers send to HUD. “They can also try phone-marking to cajole them as well.”

While the Constitution grants Congress the power to control executive-branch funding, Ellis believes its members’ responsibility to be more transparent about their behind-the-scenes advocacy and post all of their correspondence regarding funding the executive branch online.

“Agencies cam do the same,” Ellis said. “Clearly when a lawmaker as powerful as Chairman Rogers writes the executive branch, you don’t have to read between the lines too much to get the message. He controls their budget, and he’s not too subtly letting them know what projects he thinks they should fund.”

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