For Frelinghuysen, Budget Clout Also Comes With Scrutiny

New Jersey Republican Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen says he can do a lot for the Garden State from his seat overseeing the House Appropriation Committee.

Want proof? He'll point to the $900 million start-up funding in the House spending bill to build a new train tunnel under the Hudson River, to connect New Jersey to New York City. Local officials say they can't replace the current failing tunnel without federal help.

But while Frelinghuysen can do things for New Jersey in the federal budget, critics said his responsibility to Republican leadership means he also has to shepherd spending cuts that can hurt New Jersey.

For instance, the House spending bill would cut the federal Department of Education by 3.5 percent. Those cuts include eliminating a teacher training fund. And the House spending plan eliminated grants to protect coastal communities from flooding. Monmouth County towns got $900,000 from than pot of money last year.

 “He can’t ignore all of those other interests that we have and just say ‘But guys, I brought money to New Jersey!’ said Saily Avelenda, a leader with NJ11th for Change. "That’s not his job. His job is to represent us.”

Avelenda recalled 2011, when Frelinghuysen sponsored an amendment to redirect almost a half-billion dollars that could have been spent on New Jersey rail upgrades to Midwestern flood relief.

Frelinghuysen said at the time it was the right thing to do. Today, his  campaign said the benefits of his clout outweigh the costs.

Mike DuHaime is a veteran political consultant who is running Frelinghuysen's 2018 re-election campaign. He said President Trump’s budget asked for even deeper cuts to medical research, college financial aid and the arts.

 “The initial budget that was presented in Congress, you know, really hurt some of these programs," DuHaime said. "Congressman Frelinghuysen and some of his colleagues on the Appropriations Committee have restored much of that funding.”

DuHaime says even Democrats support some items passing through Frelinghuysen's committee, such as hurricane relief and defense spending. He said they both had the unanimous support of the New Jersey delegation.

DuHaime said voters will look at all of Frelinghuysen's record, and not any one line item in the spending plan. The final version is also likely to look very different: Senate Democrats say they are unlikely to support the House plan.