Watchdog Group Slams Lawmakers for Embracing Earmarks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Kara Zupkus (224)-456-0257

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) criticized members of Congress for reportedly calling for earmarks in upcoming appropriations bills ahead of the September 30 government funding deadline. According to a recent report in The Hill, “[t]he return of earmarks to the annual appropriations bills has sparked a battle among Republicans on Capitol Hill, pitting fiscal hawks against members of the Appropriations Committees and their allies,” and jeopardizing the passage of future spending bills.

In response, David Williams, TPA President, offered the following comment:

“Earmarks represent the worst of old-school patronage politics—pet projects slipped into massive spending bills that hurt taxpayers while greasing the palms of powerful insiders. Prior to their supposed ban in 2011, wayward earmarks from members on both sides of the aisle ranged from $500,000 for a teapot museum in Sparta, North Carolina to $7.5 million for golf training outings. Former Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-Calif.) spent eight years in prison for taking $2.4 million in bribes and abusing his position on the Appropriations Committee’s Defense Subcommittee. Earmarks fuel this cynical abuse of the appropriations process and erode public trust. As the late Sen. Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-Okla.) quipped, earmarks are a ‘gateway drug’ to Washington’s spending addiction.  

“TPA has repeatedly spoken out against these budget-busting items. Senate Republicans assured taxpayers in 2019 that earmarks were a thing of the past. However, later the same year, they came out with a defense bill that contained an astounding 785 earmarks totaling $16.1 billion. Taxpayers deserve better than a Congress that gaslights the American people and refuses to get serious about genuine fiscal reform.

“The recently passed $3.4 trillion One Big Beautiful Bill Act underscores the need for getting America’s spending under control. If Congress doubles down on earmarks, the profligate spending in Washington will only continue. For the sake of future generations of Americans, policymakers need to say no to earmarks and reinstate the conference-wide ban on their use.”

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 Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government’s effects on the economy.