Mike Johnson Agrees to Fund Service That Gives Teens Transgender Clothing
Mike Johnson is being rebuked by Republican colleagues for myriad earmarks related to transgender and abortion care as part of Congress' $1.2 trillion spending bill.A midnight deadline on Friday looms to avoid a partial government shutdown.
Lawmakers are being asked to vote on a six-bill package of more than 1,000 pages that provides money to areas including defense, homeland security, labor, health and human services, financial services and the legislative branch.
If approved, a shutdown would be avoided, and the government would be funded until the end of the fiscal year on September 30.The package contains earmarks with which many House GOP members part of an already razor-thin majority take umbrage, including for abortion-related care and LGBTQ+ causes.
Although lawmakers usually are allotted 72 hours to review legislation, Johnson suggested waiving the rule to get something passed.Many conservatives waged a culture war in 2023, sparked by Bud Light teaming with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney as part of an advertising campaign that led to numerous ad campaigns across business sectors, resulting in consumer boycotts and even physical demonstrations in stores like Target.One item in the package includes $400,000 toward gender-affirming clothing for Briarpatch Youth Services in Wisconsin, introduced by Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat.Briarpatch's Teens Like Us Program provides support and education for queer youth ages 13 to 18, according to its website."Founded over 20 years ago, TLU [Teens Like Us] provides a safe, brave place for queer and questioning youth to meet with their peers," the website says. "We serve youth across the state of Wisconsin!"Newsweek reached out to Briarpatch and Johnson via email for comment.Other earmarks of note, as highlighted by the House Freedom Caucus in a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, include:"No @HouseGOP should vote for the #SwampOmnibus with these earmarks," the House Freedom Caucus wrote on X. "A.
