Kansas Republicans vote to censure Jerry Moran for supporting Biden’s spending bill

Republicans on the Kansas First Congressional District Committee voted this week to censure U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran for his decision to support a $1.7 trillion spending bill that allocated millions for projects across Kansas.

During the group’s biannual meeting in Hutchinson — when it was slated to elect officers to the District Committee and delegates to the Kansas Republican Party’s State Committee — John Pyle from Ellis County introduced a resolution to censure Moran. It was approved by a voice vote.

“I don’t know if there’s going to be any action,” Pyle said. “The 1st District has supported Jerry Moran ever since he started in politics. And when this omnibus bill came up there were a bunch of people who called and asked him to vote against it. And we also called Sen. Marshall’s office and asked him to vote against it. Jerry turned around and voted for it, which is in deep contrast to all of the values of the First District.”

Moran’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He originally represented the 1st District in the U.S. House until he won his Senate seat in 2010. The district was previously represented by former Sens. Pat Roberts and Bob Dole. The latter was the Republican nominee for president in 1996.

The censure was first reported by the Sunflower State Journal.

Congress passed their annual spending bill in late December, in the final days of the 117th Congress. Moran — who is on the Senate Appropriations Committee and serves as the ranking member on the subcommittee for Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies — was able to secure more than $193 million in congressionally directed spending for projects in Kansas, including more than $40 million for the University of Kansas Medical Center.

The bill also allocated money specified in the National Defense Authorization Act and for the PACT Act, which expanded health benefits for veterans who were exposed to toxic burn pits.

But some conservatives, already critical of government spending, raised alarm about other earmarks like $3 million for a partnership between the New York Historical Society and the American LGBTQ Museum, were critical of the 18 Republicans who voted to pass the bill.

“Jerry does that every time he’s confronted with something. It’s always for the military,” Pyle said. “They’ve known that they’ve had to have a budget for months and months. But like so often, they don’t do anything and then right at the end they get played by the Democrats.”

Moran’s censure comes as hard-line conservatives have exerted pressure on the House, raising concerns in Washington that Congress might not be able to meet some of its deadlines to allocate enough money to keep the government running or to raise the debt ceiling so the country avoids defaulting.