Congress recently passed a massive spending bill that includes thousands of earmarks. Originally removed by the Republican Tea Party wave during former President Obama’s administration, earmarks were used for decades to give lawmakers a loophole to fund pet projects back home.
did not escape earmarks, either, with freshman U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, putting aside $1.35 million to improve traffic flow for a three-point roadway intersection in her district.The earmark looks to improve the"mobility" of the intersection in question, which is a suburban roadway triangle next to an elementary school, where there is likely a school zone forcing lower speeds.
The White House Office of Management and Budget , under former President Bush, defined earmarks as"funds provided by the Congress for projects or programs where the congressional direction circumvents the merit-based or competitive allocation process, or specifies the location or recipient, or otherwise curtails the ability of the Administration to control critical aspects of the funds allocation process.
Former OMB Director Russ Vought, who served under former President Trump, told Fox News Digital over the phone that the previous ban against earmarks"is something that is really one of the only fiscal reforms" congressional conservatives can point to as a win in the last decade.
"This isn’t free money. It’s taxpayers’ money. And Democrats are trying to use taxpayer money … to buy the support of voters who are rejecting their agenda.""America is more than $30 trillion in debt. Inflation is the highest it’s been in 40 YEARS. Hardworking Americans, and poor families like mine growing up, are struggling more than ever, but Democrats just keep spending," he continued.
"You can't say you're trying to fight off inflation and you're dumping more federal dollars into the economy at the same time."U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a vocal fiscal conservative, joined his colleagues in speaking out against earmarks, saying the return of earmarks is"just the swamp doing what it does best."
"Mostly because members of Congress vote for bills like the omnibus that they might not ordinarily support but for the earmarks," Schatz said."Inequitable, although we have not analyzed exactly who got them this time, the last time there was a list of members of Congress receiving earmarks, 51 percent of the earmarks and 61 percent of the money went to the members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, and they only constituted about 15 percent of the entire Congress.
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