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Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, was joined by 29 Republican lawmakers in urging the Office of Management and Budget to prevent taxpayer dollars from going to any American city where lawlessness is permitted.
In a bicameral letter to Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Republican pointed to “autonomous zones” and “anarchist zones” seen in a number of Democrat-run cities recently, insisting they are “incompatible with the American commitment to its citizens that it is a nation based on laws.”
“We write to urge you to exercise your authority to ensure taxpayer dollars are not used to promote anarchy,” the letter states. “In recent weeks, mobs hijacked peaceful protests and vandalized cities, and State and local officials enabled and encouraged them.”
“One egregious product of this encouragement of chaos are so-called ‘autonomous zones.’ These anarchist zones are incompatible with the American commitment to its citizens that it is a nation based on laws,” the missive continued. “Most concerning, various city officials have used their platforms and taxpayer dollars to promote their existence, facilitate their expansion and clean up the destruction.”
The city of Seattle is named, as Democrat officials allowed anarchists and other hard-left revolutionaries to cordon off a six-block autonomous zone for weeks.
“In Seattle, where an ‘autonomous zone’ persisted for weeks and was only stopped after a string of shootings and murders, local officials’ abysmal judgment has a budgetary effect, as the city wrestles with a $300 million revenue shortfall,” the GOP lawmakers said. “Law-abiding citizens should not have to pay for their abdication of responsibility.”
Portland also saw an attempt to establish an autonomous zone, as did Washington, D.C.
The letter also requested that Voight “investigate and report the amount of taxpayer dollars local officials used to, encourage, sustain, bolster, supply or repair the damage in these anarchist ‘autonomous zones.’”
“In FY2019, the federal government provided the top 20 most populous U.S. cities over $88 billion in taxpayer dollars,” Ernst explained. “That money comes from the people and should have been spent to protect them, not put them in harm’s way. The most fundamental duty of these cities is to provide security for law-abiding citizens. Instead, we have seen businesses destroyed and lives senselessly taken. Thank you for your time, and we look forward to your leadership in ensuring transparency for tax-payer dollars used to enable anarchy.”
Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., Steve Daines, R-Mont., Mike Braun, R-Ind., and Thom Tillis, R-S.C., signed the letter.
House members included Reps. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., Doug Collins, R-Ga., Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, among others.
Last month, Ernst introduced the Ending Taxpayer Funding of Anarchy Act, which would end federal funding for states and localities that “obstruct the rule of law” by allowing autonomous zones to exist.
“Anarchy cannot continue on our streets. If city officials or state leaders fail to do their job and protect their citizens, the federal government – American taxpayers – aren’t going to pay for it,” Ernst said last month in a press release, according to Fox News.
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Tom@bizpacreview.com
The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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