House Republicans have added over 290 “poison pill” riders to the federal budget bill that would restrict government spending. These riders would roll back progress on issues like LGBTQ+ rights, immigration, and environmental protections. The new riders include blocking same-sex marriage equality funding, banning LGBTQ+ flags from federal buildings, restricting visas for foreign farmworkers, and limiting the EPA’s ability to regulate pollution. Advocacy groups are calling on lawmakers to remove all the riders from the budget bill and pass legislation without the controversial restrictions. The riders would damage agencies’ ability to do critical work and reverse gains in environmental justice, according to critics.
My pleasure and I completely agree - there’s not a single minority population that doesn’t suffer under one or more of these riders, and the full out assault on environmental protections is sickening given the climate devastation we’re experiencing.
The other thing that came to me while I pulled this out was that the Republican party hasn’t published a policy platform update since 2016.
This list of riders details what their unpublished policy is pretty thoroughly, and it’s clear why they won’t make it public.