U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Steve Daines (R-MT) on March 7 joined their Republican colleagues to introduce a resolution that expresses opposition to congressional spending on earmarks.
“Earmarks represent the worst of Congress,” Sen. Daines said. “They are slimy backroom deals that make lobbyists rich on the taxpayer’s dime. Washington must reject these toxic deals and return to fiscal sanity.”
“The Washington swamp uses earmarks to push lobbyist pet projects and continue a pattern of wasteful spending that only hurts Main Street businesses and hardworking families,” said Sen. Blackburn. “Tennessee taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for a social justice organization in northern California, an education campaign to protect monk seals in Hawaii, or an environmental justice center in New York.”
“This is a reckless waste of taxpayer dollars that will only exacerbate our national debt,” she said.
According to the text of Senate Resolution 580, which U.S. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) sponsored alongside eight original cosponsors, including Sen. Blackburn and Sen. Daines, fiscal year 2022 marked the return of “congressionally directed spending” and “community project funding,” also known as earmarks, after a 12-year hiatus, noting that earmarks denote the return of lawmakers using their powers to circumvent the rules of the Senate in order to direct taxpayer dollars to wasteful projects.
If enacted, the resolution would resolve that the Senate condemns the use of earmarks to direct and appropriate taxpayer dollars in any form; reaffirms the previous ban on the use of earmarks and affirms to restore the ban permanently and immediately; and affirms the need for Congress to reign in overspending to help curb the inflation crisis that is crippling the families of the United States, the text says.
The resolution has been referred to the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration.