The vote
Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) was one of 206 House members who voted against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act on November 5, 2021. The bill passed 228 to 206, according to the House Clerk's roll call record.
The credit
On November 15, 2021, the day President Biden signed the $1.2 trillion law, Palmer's office issued a press release touting $369 million the law directed to the Northern Beltline, a long-planned highway corridor in the Birmingham area. The release described the project as "consistently one of my top priorities."
Nine days earlier, in his November 6 statement explaining his no vote, Palmer had called the package reckless, saying "Democrats have shown they are willing to recklessly push through a bill that costs over a trillion dollars with only about 10 percent going to roads and bridges."
Context
Palmer was one of more than 200 House Republicans who opposed the law. A number of them later promoted its spending in their districts, including funding routed through the Army Corps of Engineers and federal highway programs.
Response
A spokeswoman for Palmer, Elizabeth Hance, said the congressman would have voted for standalone legislation he authored that funded the Northern Beltline, and noted that he had voiced support for the project in the same statement explaining his vote against the broader bill.
Why it matters
The episode reflects a recurring gap between how some members vote on major spending laws and how they describe those same laws to constituents once the money arrives.
