Analysis: Earmarks Not Swaying Votes (So Far)

One of the justifications for bringing back earmarks was to create incentives for members of both parties to vote for major bills by including projects that had been sponsored by individual members to directly benefit their Congressional District or State. Thus far, that has not been the case, per reporting from Stars and Stripes:

House Republicans are staying unified thus far in opposition to Democrat-drafted spending bills, despite racking up hundreds of millions of dollars in home-district earmarks after a selection process many in the GOP acknowledge has been fair and transparent.

From the multiyear, $759 billion surface transportation bill to the initial batch of fiscal 2022 appropriations bills for agencies ranging from the Small Business Administration to the Interior Department, Republicans are staying on message: The bills spend too much and are too laden with policies they oppose.

“I think these bills are gonna face pretty uniform opposition across the board,” Oklahoma’s Tom Cole said of upcoming appropriations votes. Cole is the top Republican on Rules and the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee, which funds the largest domestic spending bill.

Stars and Stripes, July 6, 2021