We examine the distribution and electoral return of trillions of dollars in COVID-19 relief spending and green infrastructure investments authorized
by the CARES Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS Act. Using data on federal outlays, we first determine
whether spending was disproportionately targeted to certain parts of the country based on demographic, economic, or political characteristics. More specifically, we ask whether the Biden administration was able to exert influence over federal outlays to systematically reward its core party base or court likely swing voters in 2024. Next (using vote returns from the 2024 general election), we use a difference-in-differences design and synthetic control methods to estimate the effect of marginal increases in federal COVID-19 relief and infrastructure spending on vote shares for the Democratic party.