The recent "minibus" spending bill passed by the House has come under scrutiny by Senate Republicans led by Senator Rick Scott (R-FL). As the minibus is considered in the upper chamber, the Florida Senator introduced a resolution slamming earmarks found throughout the bill, calling them "Washington’s corrupt way to recklessly spend taxpayer money with zero scrutiny."
Scattered throughout the 605-page minibus are 6,630 earmarked items worth $12 billion combined, for which taxpayer funds are awarded without merit-based or competitive allocation.
Examples of earmarked items include $3.5 million for Michigan's Thanksgiving Parade, $500,000 for San Francisco gardens, city hall, theater, and opera renovations in Washington (the state), Rhode Island, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, $4 million for the construction of a New Jersey waterfront walkway, and $1 million for a New York City environmental justice center and a San Francisco social justice center apiece.
Notably, earmarks were banned in 2010 only to be reintroduced in 2021, mentioned in Sen. Scott's resolution and condemned as "the return of lawmakers using their powers to circumvent the rules of the Senate in order to direct taxpayer dollars to wasteful projects."
After all, the United States is approximately $34 trillion in debt, and even the smallest amount of funds going somewhere other than to keep the government running is wasteful, the resolution argued.
In addition to his above comment, Sen. Scott further condemned earmarks in his press release, saying, "While the federal government’s debt nears $35 trillion and inflation has skyrocketed 18% under Joe Biden, the minibus spending bill has more than 6,600 projects that will cost taxpayers $12 BILLION. This clearly isn’t about funding the government, it’s about funding pet projects for politicians like Chuck Schumer. Floridians have no interest in funding Schumer’s wish list. We must end this wasteful political corruption that Washington calls earmarks."
Joining Scott are Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Barrasso (R-WY), Steve Daines (R-MT), Rand Paul (R-KY), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Josh Hawley (R-MO).
