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Fiscal Policyactive

Foreign Aid vs. Domestic Investment

Billions in taxpayer dollars continue to flow overseas while domestic communities face crumbling infrastructure, rising costs, and shrinking public services.

Updated April 2026

The Problem

America cannot fund every foreign supplemental while crumbling infrastructure, rising costs, and shrinking public services hammer families at home. The question is not whether foreign aid is bad — it's whether Congress is making honest tradeoffs.

FL-21 sees its share of federal foreign-aid dollars but has watched roads, water systems, and ports go underfunded. The contrast is sharpest in Mast's voting record.

Brian Mast — 9-Year Track Record

Talking points without legislation isn't representation.

What he’s actually gotten signed into law as the primary sponsor — across five congresses (2017–2026):

4
bills became law in 9 years
as primary sponsor
2
of those just named buildings
post office + VA hospital
1
substantive policy bill
2017 VA reauthorization
0
water-quality bills became law
as primary sponsor

Source: production LegiScan database (sponsor + status records, queried April 2026) cross-checked against GovTrack and Congress.gov.

The Incumbent's Record

What Brian Mast Has Done

Brian Mast became House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman in January 2025 — among the most extensive foreign-aid records in the House. He voted YES on Israel aid and NO on Ukraine aid in April 2024, and has voted NO on every major domestic infrastructure bill while voting YES on foreign supplementals.

Recorded Votes

  • H.R. 8034
    Israel Security Supplemental ($26.4B)Voted YES

    $26.4B for Israel including $4B for Iron Dome/David's Sling.

    Passed 366–58; signed · 2024-04-20
  • H.R. 8035
    Ukraine Security Supplemental ($60.8B)Voted NO
    Passed; signed · 2024-04-20
  • H.R. 3684
    Bipartisan Infrastructure Law ($1.2T)Voted NO

    $1.2T for roads, bridges, broadband, water, and transit. Florida received billions; Mast was not among the 13 House Republicans voting yes.

    Passed 228–206; signed · 2021-11-05
  • H.R. 5376
    Inflation Reduction ActVoted NO

    Extended ACA subsidies, capped Medicare drug costs, capped insulin at $35.

    Passed; signed · 2022-08-12

What He Hasn't Done

  • Pattern: foreign supplementals YES, domestic supplementals NO. The contrast is the actual record, not a caricature.

Compiled from House Clerk roll-call records, GovTrack, and Mast public statements (Newsmax interview, April 2024).

The Cooke Plan

What Alex Would Do

Specific. Sourced. Independent.

  1. 1

    Vote yes on the next infrastructure bill

    Florida benefits massively from federal infrastructure spending. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law sent billions to Florida ports, water systems, and roads. The next reauthorization is coming; Cooke will vote yes if it's substantive.

  2. 2

    Sunset every foreign supplemental

    Every foreign-aid supplemental should sunset automatically and require a fresh up-or-down vote — no rolling authorities. Forces Congress to keep making real tradeoffs.

  3. 3

    PAYGO with a domestic-spending firewall

    Pay-As-You-Go rules that exempt domestic infrastructure and disaster mitigation from offsets requirements. We should not be forcing roads-and-bridges spending to compete with foreign supplementals on the same scoreboard.

Stand with Alex on this.

Independent. No party. No PACs. Real fixes for Florida District 21.

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