Nancy Mace boasts about securing $195M in infrastructure funds. She voted against the law that made it possible – UK Times

Representative Nancy Mace has once again boasted about securing an infrastructure grant for her home state of South Carolina, despite voting against a bill that made the grant possible.

Mace, a right-wing lawmaker who is now running for governor in South Carolina, told the conservative network NewsMax2 on Wednesday that she “helped secure the largest infrastructure grant in state history, in South Carolina history.”

Last year, Mace’s state received $195 million to support the construction of a traffic interchange, marking the “largest single grant award in the agency’s history,” the South Carolina Department of Transportation said. The federal grant was awarded through the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America program, which had “historic levels of funding thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” the Transportation Department said.

That law, which was also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, was signed by former President Joe Biden in November 2021. Mace voted against it.

While Mace voted against the law, she afterwards wrote a letter to former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg supporting the grant application.

The Independent has contacted Mace’s office for comment.

Mace made a nearly identical claim earlier this month at a town hall event.

“One of the things the press will not tell you: I am one of the leading members of Congress who’s gotten resources for our state,” Mace said on August 6. “In fact, our office assisted in getting the largest infrastructure grant in South Carolina history, at $195 million earlier this year. The press won’t tell you that.”

When asked by CNN how she could tout the grant despite voting against Biden’s bill, Mace said it was her job to ensure the funds were appropriated.

“We fight over how we spend the money, how we appropriate it, but once the appropriations happen, I’m gonna make sure that South Carolina, that we get our fair share, because that money’s getting spent and our tax dollars in South Carolina is equal to anybody else’s in California, New York, Tennessee,” Mace told CNN.

Mace also faced blowback online last year for making a similar claim.

“We helped secure $195 million—the largest grant in South Carolina’s history from the U.S. Department of Transportation—to kick off the Long Point Road Interchange Project,” Mace wrote on X in October.

Mace’s post was then hit with a community note clarifying she voted against the bill.

“Rep. Nancy Mace voted against the infrastructure act that supplied this funding,” the community note reads.

Mace made another post two days later, clarifying her claim: “Of course we opposed the infrastructure package stuffed with trillions in partisan pork. But now that it’s law, that money’s getting spent whether we like it or not—so you better believe we’re making sure it gets reinvested right here in South Carolina.”