04/18/2024

House Republicans Seek to Limit Earmark Requests

They want changes to the earmarking process

House Republican appropriators are weighing changes to the chamber's earmarking process to limit the number of "pet projects" lawmakers request.

House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) told reporters this week that earmark guidance would be out shortly as appropriators rush to get their fiscal 2025 bills underway; the goal would be to block projects that could cause them headaches back in their district.

"Some of these are unobjectionable; some of them create political problems for people," Cole said. "That's just the reality of it. I shouldn’t have to have a political problem in my district because I voted for a bill that had your earmark in it."

While Cole has declined to discuss specific changes to the guidance, he is reportedly considering blocking nonprofit organizations from receiving earmarks for social service programs under the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Economic Development Initiative (EDI) grant program.

So-called EDIs accounted for the largest single source of earmarks in fiscal 2024 at nearly $3.3 billion, according to Roll Call. House members secured EDI funding for nonprofits ranging from shelters for victims of domestic violence to food banks to Habitat for Humanity grants to build homes for those in need.

This article was provided to OSAP by ASAE's Power of Associations and Inroads.