Several new Democrat earmarks in this year's congressional budget request are raising eyebrows among conservative groups.
The 1,000 page budget — released around 2:30 a.m. on Thursday — includes earmarks that would go toward controversial LGBTQ+ facilities and a late-term abortion clinic. Another request includes a multimillion-dollar proposal for what critics dub "gun confiscation" research.
Former Vice President Mike Pence's nonprofit organization, Americans Advancing Freedom, told Fox News Digital in a statement Thursday that "Congress can't pass this legislation in its current form until these egregious earmarks are weeded out."
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"Releasing bill text in the middle of the night is how our government gets locked into funding gaffs and binders for confused kids," AAF policy director John Shelton said. "American taxpayers are funding centers that encourage children to transition without their parents' knowledge."
According to appropriations documents, Wisconsin Democrat Sen. Tammy Baldwin requested $400,000 request for a facility called Briarpatch Youth Services. One of the group's programs is called "Teens Like Us LGBTQIA2s+" for ages 13-18 and a "Gender Affirming Clothing Program" that provides minors with clothing that matches their gender identity. It also organizes a "pride prom" for kids as young as 12, and connects LGBTQ youth without parental knowledge.
"Youth do NOT need parent/guardian permission to join Teens Like Us. We understand not all youth are at a point in their lives where they can safely and confidently ‘come out,’" the website says.
Another request from New Jersey Democrat Sens. Cory Booker and Bob Menendez would send $400,000 to the state's largest LGBTQ+ advocacy group, the Garden State Equality Education Fund, Inc.
The group provides "binders and gaffs" — two types of undergarments used by transgender people to hide breasts or male genitalia.
Rhode Island Democrat Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Sheldon Whitehouse requested $1.8 million for the Women and Infants Hospital in Rhode Island. The clinic performs elective abortions up to 22 weeks, both surgical and chemical, according to its website.
Another $12.5 million is proposed for a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study called the Prevent Firearm Injury and Mortality research. The NIH said on its website they are "committed to supporting scientific research to develop, evaluate, and implement effective public health interventions to better understand and prevent violence, including firearm violence, and the resulting trauma, injuries, and mortality."
Gun Owners of America, a gun rights lobbying organization, posted to X on Thursday: "Such grants currently fund ‘research’ on gun confiscation, a ‘firearm retirement’ age for seniors & more!"
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The House is expected to vote on the appropriations package later this week before some government funding runs out Friday night. Four continuing resolutions were passed following the initial September 30 deadline for appropriations bills.
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