Conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus requested nearly $1 billion in pork-barrel “earmark” spending over the last two years, according to an analysis Wednesday that labeled the 22 earmarkers as “cross-dressing” conservatives.
OpenTheBooks.com found that 22 of the 49 members of the caucus requested earmarks. They totaled $447.8 million in the 2023 spending bills and $508.9 million in bills to fund the government for 2024.
Not all requests became law.
Adam Andrzejewski, founder of OpenTheBooks, said the requests were particularly rich because the Freedom Caucus in 2022 issued a blueprint for congressional rules that called for a full ban on earmarks.
He said that a majority of caucus members didn’t request earmarks, but those that did were quite profligate — even outdoing the famously liberal “Squad” with the likes of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Ilhan Omar. The Squad averaged $13.9 million in earmark requests this year, compared to $23.1 million for each Freedom Caucus member who requested earmarks.
“Self-styled fiscal conservatives promoted themselves as a bulwark against establishment spending that would bankrupt the nation. It turns out that many are better at breaking their promises than stopping spending,” Mr. Andrzejewski said.
He said the 210 total earmark requests meant they were “cross-dressing as fiscal conservatives.”
Earmarks are specific projects itemized in spending bills in response to requests by lawmakers. They are exceptions to the usual funding rules, in which the administration doles out money based on formulas and open competition.
Defenders of the practice say members of Congress know the needs of their districts better than bureaucrats and should be in charge of the spending. Critics say the projects should be made to compete like all other spending.
A caucus spokesperson said it was up to individual offices to talk about their actions, but said the study’s data included people who aren’t considered members of the caucus.
Republicans, led by then-Speaker John Boehner, had instituted a ban on earmarks when they took control of the House in 2011. It persisted even after the GOP surrendered the House in 2017, with a GOP majority in the Senate preserving the ban.
But Democrats revived earmarks when they had control of both chambers in 2021. Republicans retook the House in 2023 but did not reimpose the ban, disappointing many conservative activists.
OpenTheBooks said the Freedom Caucus’ biggest earmarker is Rep. Randy Weber, Texas Republican, who submitted requests for more than $400 million in projects.
Most of that was for Army Corps of Engineers projects.
Rep. Greg Steube, Florida Republican, requested money for a shark repellant study. Rep. Morgan Griffith, Virginia Republican, requested nearly half a million dollars for road paving in a county in his district.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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