Learn More in Earmarks & Appropriations

Analysis of Selected Provisions in Hurricane Sandy Emergency Spending Proposals

Update January 10, 2013: We’ve combed through the House Appropriations Chairman Rogers Sandy Supplemental bill (HR 152 and his...

Evolution of Earmarks

Evolution of Earmarks and Earmark Disclosure in Recent Years...

Zombie Earmarks in Defense Spending Bill

The Fiscal Year 2013 defense spending bill heading to the House floor Wednesday is a lesson in why it’s so hard to cut defense spending...

Sandy Supplemental Data

As Washington debates the merits of a supplemental spending bill in response to superstorm Sandy, this database lists of all the spending...

Backdoor Earmarks? Slush-y Funds in the Corps of Engineers Budget

(February 8, 2012 | 3:00 p.m.) Below is a chart detailing the number of projects that receive funding in the Corps 2012 Work Plan that...

FY2011 Omnibus Appropriations Earmark Database

(Originally Posted 12/17/2010) Taxpayers for Common Sense has completed an initial database of the 6,706 earmarks worth $8.3 billion...

TCS Releases Database of FY11 Earmark Requests

(Originally Posted December 7) Taxpayers for Common Sense, WashingtonWatch.com, and Taxpayers Against Earmarks teamed together to...

TCS Preliminary Earmark Analysis for FY 2011

Originally Posted 10/19/2010: The FY2011 budget is a mess. Congress has not finished a single spending bill. The House has approved...

Common Sense Reforms for the 112th Congress

As the dawn of the 112th Congress draws near, there are several reforms Congress should enact, regardless of which party is in control....

Good Government Groups and Lobbyists Jointly Release Common Sense Earmark Reforms for the 112th Congress

TCS joined with other nonprofit good government groups and several Washington lobbyists to hammer out some jointly agreed upon earmark...

UPDATE—$7.7 Billion In Earmarks In 2009 Omnibus Spending Bill (updated 3/13/09)

March 13, 2009 Update: Version 5 is now available.   This version includes member state and party, and also allows for a partisan...

Exploring the Relationship Between Earmarks and Campaign Contributions

Taxpayers for Common Sense and the Center for Responsive Politics have joined to release a comprehensive database that links campaign...

Earmarks and Earmarking: Frequently Asked Questions

Earmarks have received a lot of attention in the media, in Congress, and around the water cooler. But despite the interest there is a good deal of disagreement about the definition of earmark, the role of earmarking in the budget process, whether it is an appropriate use of Congress's time, and whether earmarks serve the interests of taxpayers....

TCS FY2010 Earmark Analysis: Apples-to-Apples Increase in Earmarks

  Click Here for the complete database of FY2010 Earmarks  |  Click Here for a pdf version of this analysis...

FY10 Omnibus Disclosed Earmark Numbers

Preliminary disclosed earmark totals for the FY10 Omnibus: Transportation/HUD: 1481 worth $1.207...

FY08 & FY09 Earmarks and Related Campaign Contributions

**Update: September 16 -- For Fiscal Year 2010 Earmark Databases, click here** Taxpayers for Common Sense and the Center for Responsive...

Complete Database of House and Senate Earmark Requests

After searching all 99 senate websites (remember the Coleman/Franken Minnesota race is still unresolved), we now have a complete database...

Bailout Bank Bio: Chrysler

Chrysler LLC was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan.  In 2007 Cerberus Capital Management took up managing...

Visclosky FY08 & FY09 PMA Client Earmarks

The FBI has subpoenaed various records and documents from Rep. Visclosky’s (D-IN) offices in relation to the previously raided PMA Group...

Database of FY2010 Earmark Requests

Update (May 7, 2009):  It has now been just over a month since the deadline for members to disclose on their websites all FY2010 earmark...

Stevens Trial: Defense Exhibits

The following is an exhaustive list of defense exhibits introduced in the trial against Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), which concluded last week...

Stevens Trial: Allen Details Gifts to Stevens

Wednesday Morning (10/1/08): Note:  The afternoon testimony was cancelled due to a problem with a juror.  Allen will be back on the stand...

President Signs Earmark-Laden Spending Bill

President George W. Bush signed a massive year-end spending bill late Tuesday, just hours before a new fiscal year began. The "Minibus"...

Stevens Tops FY2009 Earmark Heap

As Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) sat today in a federal courthouse while jurors were chosen in the federal trial against him, he received at...

2,321 Earmarks worth $6.6 Billion in Minibus Legislation

After a bit of speed reading, TCS staff came up with earmark totals for the CR/Def/DHS/MilCon bill that was released 13 hours ago. These...

Sample of Earmarks in the FY09 Minibus

It’s slow going looking through the earmarks, but here’s a few – some are repeat customers and some are rookie earmarks. More to...

Congress Releases $600 Billion Spending Bill for 2009

Late last night, the House released the more than $600 billion FY09 CR/MiniBus legislation, to fund much of the government through early...

House Releases Homeland Security Earmark Letters

The House Appropriations Committee has just released the earmark request letters for the 2009 Department of Homeland Security...

FY2009 Appropriations Bills: TCS Analyses and Earmark Databases

The following are links to TCS's analysis and database for each of the FY09 appropriations bills. (Note: With the exception of House...

Senate Adds $5.2 Billion in Earmarks to Defense Authorization Bill

The Senate is expected to pass the 2009 Defense Authorization Bill sometime tonight, but to do so they will have to resolve a raucous...

Sen. Obama (D-IL) Requested $860.6 million in earmarks FY2006-FY2008

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) requested 326 projects worth $860.6 million between FY2006 and FY2008, according to a Taxpayers for Common Sense...

Senate Energy and Water Earmark Total Nearly Identical to Last Year

The Senate Appropriations Committee’s FY2009 Energy and Water appropriations bill contains 1,480 earmarks worth $3.50 billion (click here...

$35 Million in Undisclosed Earmarks in Senate State and Foreign Operations Bill

The 2009 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill contains 7 earmarks worth $35.4 million dollars (click here...

Nearly $200 million in Agriculture Earmarks in Senate Bill

The Senate Appropriations Committee included 307 earmarks worth about $197.2 million in the Fiscal Year 2009 Agriculture Appropriations...

House Earmarks $721 Million in Military Construction Appropriations Bill

The House of Representative today passed a bill to fund Military Construction and Veterans Affairs programs in fiscal year 2009 contains...

House Appropriations Committee Starts to Move

Well, the House Appropriations Committee filed the Military Construction spending bill. This is the first show of actually moving bills...

Senate Doubles House Take of Financial Services Earmarks

The FY 2009 Senate Financial Services Appropriations bill contains 90 earmarks worth $221.3 million (click here to view the database)....

Earmarks for Energy and Water Projects Double in House Legislation

The FY 2009 House Energy and Water Appropriations bill contains 1,465 congressional earmarks for a total cost of more than $3.1 billion...

Cost of Senate Labor-HHS Earmarks Increase Significantly

The FY 2009 Senate Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations bill contains 942 earmarks for a total cost of more than $847...

Shelby, Milkulski Secure 25% of Earmarks on CJS Spending Bill

The FY 2009 Senate Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill contains 552 earmarks worth $471.4 million, according to an...

House Commerce Justice Science Spending Bill: 1,126 Earmarks, $442,562,000

The FY 2009 House Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill contains 1,126 earmarks worth $442,562,000. That is a decrease of 13...

House Labor-HHS Spending Bill: 1,371 Earmarks, $619 Million

The FY 2009 House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill contains 1371 earmarks for a total cost of $619,187,000. The number of projects...

$57 million in earmarks in the House 2009 Financial Services spending bill

The 2009 House Financial Services Appropriations bill contains 197 earmarks for a total of $57 million (click here to see the database)....

$197 Million in Homeland Security Earmarks in Senate Spending Bill

The Senate version of the 2009 Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill includes 19 congressional earmarks for a total of...

House Defense Authorization Earmarks Jump From Last Year

A bill recently passed by the House increases the number of Defense Authorization earmarks by more than 20% from last year, according to...

Database of Congressional Earmarks for FY2008

**First posted Feb. 14, 2008** Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) staff and interns have devoted thousands of hours to researching,...

Ending the Earmark ATM: Despite Reforms, Earmarks Continue to Thrive

Congress disclosed 11,234 earmarks worth $14.8 billion in this year’s spending bills. An additional $3.5 billion worth of earmarks were...

Transportation Committee Discloses New Earmarks

The earmark disclosure debutantes are making their way to the floor today in the technical correction bill for SAFETEA-LU (H.R....

Senate Cuts Transportation Earmarks

The FY09 Senate appropriations bill providing money for transportation and Housing and Urban Development projects contains 609 earmarks...

Earmarks Moratorium, Budget Resolution and Sen. Reid

Things on a earmark moratorium/reform are very fluid. We are hearing that Speaker Pelosi’s frustration with the earmark issue may end up...

Obey Throws Down the Gauntlet

In a letter where you can almost hear his frustration, Appropriations Chairman asked the members of the House to check off whether they...

Errata to TCS FY08 Earmarks Database

February 29, 2008 -- After consultation with Sen. Obama’s staff, TCS determined that a $7,227,500 project should be added to the database...

Taxpayers for Common Sense Releases New Earmark Database

Despite reform, new database finds that Congress hasn’t lost its appetite for pork Washington, D.C. – Congress has cut earmarks by 23...

TCS FY08 Earmark Database Release

TCS has rolled out our FY08 earmarks database. Now you can peruse and search 11,234 Congressional earmarks worth $14.8 billion. But wait,...

Golden Fleece Award

From surfing subsidies to the Great Wall of Bedford, Indiana, Wisconsin Senator William Proxmire’s Golden Fleece Award protected...

Earmark Reductions

We’ve heard a lot today about how much the Democrats have cut earmarks over previous year levels. First off, we want to congratulate them...

D-Day for Omnibus

In the wee hours this morning, the omnibus emerged from the bowels of the Capitol to be posted on the House Rules site: Speed readers...

Omnibus Creeps Forward and Cost of Earmarks

During this afternoon’s always entertaining colloquy between House Majority Leader Hoyer and Minority Whip Blunt on the House schedule,...

THUD Earmarks: Budget Battle Lines Drawn

TCS’s database of earmarks in the Transportation-Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill have landed with a THUD on our web...

House-Senate-Conference Earmarks for Labor-H Up

Now Congress is into full appropriations swing – that is until they take off for Thanksgiving. For your viewing pleasure...

Earmarks Benefiting ProLogic, Inc. and BAE Systems

Dear Representatives Obey and Lewis, and Senators Byrd and Cochran: As two organizations which have been critical of earmark abuses, we...

TCS Requests Ethics Investigation of Coconut Road Earmark

The Honorable Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Chairwoman The Honorable Doc Hastings, Ranking Member House Committee on Standards of Official...

Senate Guts Earmark Transparency Rules

TCS has just discovered that Senate leadership gutted earmark transparency rules that had initially passed the Senate 98-0. S. 1, the...

Rep. Don Young’s Coconut Rd. Earmark Rejected

You may have heard about the $10 million earmark for a Florida highway interchange that Rep. Don Young (R-AK) included the 2005 highway...

TCS Releases list of earmarks in FY 08 Senate Financial Services Appropriations Bill

Request a complete list of Senate Financial Services Earmarks (mailto: info@taxpaye.net) Washington, D.C. - The FY 2008 Senate Financial...

Final Week Flurry ﾖ Defense & AG Earmarks and More

For your summer reading pleasure we have posted all the earmarks in the House FY08 Defense and Agriculture spending bills. And I can assure...

Senate Already Watering Down Earmark Disclosure Rules

Congress is racing the clock to pass earmark and ethics reform before they skip town for a month long vacation. For a bill that’s supposed...

Commerce of Earmarks ﾖ CJS Spending Bill

To help you follow the CJS debate, TCS has released our database (MORE THAN 1100 EARMARKS IN HOUSE COMMERCE-JUSTICE-SCIENCE SPENDING BILL)...

House Transportation Spending Bill: The Road to Political Pork

Washington, D.C. - The House FY08 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations bill contains more...

Paving the Way for Pork ﾖ THUD Earmarks

TCS has plowed through the more than 1,400 earmarks worth nearly $2.2 billion in the aptly named THUD spending bill. Congress contributed...

1,300 Earmarks in Labor/HHS

Here’s one reason why Rep. Obey’s amendment to eliminate all the earmarks in the Labor/HHS bill failed last night. Actually here are 1,342...

Senate Makes House E&W Earmarks Shopping Frenzy Look Tame

So the House Energy and Water spending bill approved yesterday included 1,010 earmarks worth $3.2 billion. We think that’s a lot, but then...

Earmarks Aplenty in Senate Energy & Water Appropriations Bill

So 1,759 earmarks and $3.8 billion later we finished our database of the Senate Energy & Water Appropriations bill. It's a doozy. Twenty...

ﾑBama Wins Senate CJS Approps Sweepstakes

TCS has completed our analysis and database of the Senate CJS appropriations bill. Even in the minority, Sen. Shelby (R-AL) knows how to...

House FY08 Financial Services Analysis and Database and Additional Senate FY08 Defense Analysis and Database

The TCS analysis and database of the House FY08 Financial Services bill (TCS ANALYSIS OF FY08 HOUSE FINANCIAL SERVICES APPROPRIATIONS BILL)...

Support Amendments to Rein in Financial Services Appropriationsﾒ Earmarks

Dear Representative: Taxpayers for Common Sense Action urges you to support amendments from Representative Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and others to...

Senate Homeland Security and More on House Appropriations

I wanted to alert you that TCS has released our analysis and database of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations (TCS ANALYSIS OF FY08...

House Interior Appropriations Initiation Analysis and Database

For your weekend reading pleasure, please find the link below to TCS's initial analysis of the House FY08 Interior Appropriations bill....

House Leg Branch & State/Foreign Ops

Hmmm. What do the FY08 Legislative Branch (TCS Analysis of House Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill) and FY08 State and Foreign...

TCS Releases Analysis of Senate MilCon Earmarks

As promised TCS is churning through the appropriations bills. We've just completed our analysis of the Senate MilCon/VA appropriations...

Tentative Deal to Put Earmarks Back in House Spending Bills

An AP story (http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-06-13-congress-spending_N.htm) seems to indicate there has been a step back from...

Appropriations Underway

The House has taken up the rule governing the debate on the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill , (TCS ANALYSIS OF THE...

50 Defense Earmarks Not Disclosed by House Defense Committe

 Posted by Laura Peterson, June 8, 2007   Additional Information...

Earmark Protection Program

Okay, I have to admit that I thought that Chairman Obey's bluster about not including earmarks was going fall by the wayside during the...

50 Defense Earmarks Not Disclosed by House Defense Committe

When the House of Representatives passed new rules just a few days into the new Congress requiring lawmakers to disclose the earmarks...

OMB Tracking FY08 Earmarks

OMB Director Portman sent a memo to Heads of Departments and Agencies today. He is directing them to track earmarks in the FY08 spending...

House Armed Services Committee Releases Defense Authorization Earmarks

posted by Laura Peterson, May 23, 2007 With little fanfare, defense earmarks made their public debut in the House Armed Services Committee...

House Planning to Hide Earmarks From the Public

Both CongressDaily and Roll Call (Steven Dennis' article from today pasted in at bottom) have reported that House Appropriations Chairman...

Murtha Track Record on Earmark Pressure: ‘If You Vote Against This Bill, You Wonﾒt Have Any Input at All the Next Time’

Rep. Rogers (R-MI) is bringing a privileged resolution to the floor to reprimand Rep. Murtha (D-PA) for threatening to eliminate any...

WRDA Earmarks Aplenty

We have completed compiling all the WRDA earmarks - all 438 of them - and their sponsors into a database. The Water Resources Development...

Analysis of Chairman Murthaﾒs Donors

Analysis of Chairman Murtha’s Donors.pdf

Senate Appropriations Earmark Transparency Announcement

Senate Appropriations Chairman Byrd (D-WV) announced earlier today that the Appropriations Committee will be disclosing earmarks beginning...

OMB FY05 Earmark Database Live

Today, OMB updated their new online earmark database. If you recall, OMB's database went live a few weeks ago with incomplete data and...

Taxpayers for Common Sense Statement on House Passage of Emergency Spending Bill

Today, the House passed an emergency spending bill that weighed in $21 billion heavier than President’s $103 billion proposal. House...

When an Earmark Isnﾒt an Earmark

Lawmakers have already exploited a loophole in the new transparency rules that appear to allow 'immaculate conception' earmarks. Let me...

Taxpayers for Common Sense Statement on the Emergency Spending Bill

At $20 billion more than the President’s proposal, Congress’s $124 billion emergency spending bill is giving taxpayers an acute case of...

Emergencies and Earmarks - Supplemental

I'm hearing that the Senate supplemental is weighing in at $121B, slightly slimmer than the House's $124B, although the Ag Emergency...

Earmark Rumblings

Today was to be the day of earmark reckoning. At 3 PM, the Office of Management and Budget was supposed to post on the internet a database...

TCS FY07 Defense Earmarks Database Available

The results are in! Taxpayers for Common Sense analysis of the FY07 Defense spending bill found 2,646 earmarks worth $10.5B. This compares...

FY07 Earmark Instructions to Agencies

OMB just sent out a memo to Department Heads and Federal Agencies directing them how to deal with the FY07 spending bill (which the...

FY07 Spending Bill

Four and half months into the fiscal year, 2007 appropriations are finally done. What a mess. The Republicans left a mess by not getting...

Omnibus: 48 Hrs. to Read the Bill ﾖ HA! Earmark Disclosure ﾖ Double HA!!

Here’s the likely scenario: The Omnibus spending bill appears tomorrow, runs through a revolving door at the Rules committee and makes a...

Presidentﾒs SAP on FY07 Omnibus

The President’s Statement of Administration Policy on the FY07 spending bill is out. I am heartened by the Administration's comment: “The...

Spending Bill Machinations

Good theater on the House floor today (if you're a geek like me). Before getting to the substance, I thought I would comment on a nearly...

Continuing Resolution 101

The House Rules Committee is supposed to consider the FY07 Continuing Resolution (CR) today at 3 PM. CR 101: For the last several years,...

Continuing Resolution Rumors

The long-term continuing resolution for FY07 appropriations is supposed to be considered by the House on Wednesday. It should come out on...

Support Cloture on Gregg ‘A Second Look At Wasteful Spending’ Amendment

Dear Senator: Taxpayers for Common Sense Action urges you to support cloture on Sen. Judd Gregg’s (R-NH) amendment, “A Second Look at...

Earmark Transparency One Step Closer

Tonight, the Senate unanimously passed an amendment to the ethics bill to bring earmarks out of the shadowy corridors of the capitol and...

Approve DeMint Amendment to Improve Earmark Disclosure and Transparency

Dear Senator: Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) Action, a non-partisan budget watchdog, strongly urges your support of Senator Jim DeMint’s...

Little More on Earmark Reforms

So, I keep looking for potential loopholes in the rule. One question that comes up in my head is the rule's definition of earmark where it...

Taxpayers Demand ‘Leave No Earmark Behind’ Reforms

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi The Honorable Harry Reid U.S. House of Representatives...

TCS Statement on Final Passage of FY07 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill

Washington, D.C. - The following is a statement from Steve Ellis, Vice President for Programs at Taxpayers for Common Sense, on the Defense...

Support H.R. 4890, Legislative Line Item Veto Act

 Dear Representative: Taxpayers for Common Sense Action urges you to support H.R. 4890, the Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 2006....

Support Amendments to Reign in Agriculture Appropriations’ Earmarks

Dear Representative:   Taxpayers for Common Sense Action urges you to support amendments from Representative Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and...

TCS Applauds the Elimination of the Alaska Bridges to Nowhere

Washington, D.C. – The following is a written statement from Jill Lancelot, President...

Donﾒt put Homeland Security in the Hands of Lobbyists: Continue the Moratorium on DHS Earmarking

May 10, 2005 The Honorable Judd Gregg Chairman Subcommittee on Homeland Security Committee on Appropriations U.S. Senate Washington, DC...

The Gravina Access Project: A Bridge to Nowhere

Recipient of the TCS "Golden Fleece Award in 2003 (Read the award write-up) Project Update (September 2007): After many years of...

TCS Welcomes Punxsutawney Phil to Washington; Requests that Phil Be Allowed to Go Back to Bed

Washington, D.C. – The following is a prepared statement by Keith Ashdown, Vice President of Policy at Taxpayers for Common Sense: First,...

Veto this Bill Mr. President

Washington, D.C. - The following is a prepared statement by Keith Ashdown, Vice President of Taxpayers for Common Sense on the passage of...

TCS Statement on the Omnibus Spending Bill

Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Jill Lancelot, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense on the Omnibus Spending...

Golden Fleece: $190 Million Bridge to Nowhere

***This article first published June 12, 2003 when TCS was the first to shed light on the "Bridge to Nowhere"*** Rep. Don Young...

Rep. Don Young Wins Golden Fleece Award

Washington, D.C. - Rep Don Young (R-AK) was awarded the Golden Fleece Award today by Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget watchdog...

Earmark Disclosure Test Page

You can help us keep TABs on who in Congress is disclosing their earmark requests.  We have found that x number of members of Congress do...

Charles Taylor: Jackson County Properties

Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC) owns several pieces of property in Jackson County, NC, including at least two that are very close to Highway 19,...

Engineering Boondoggles

While Washington is wringing its hands about the automatic across-the-board budget cuts known as...