III 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 580 

Expressing opposition to congressional spending on earmarks. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 7, 2024 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. BRAUN, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. LEE, Mr. HAWLEY, Mr. PAUL, and Mr. 

DAINES) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Appropriations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing opposition to congressional spending on 

earmarks. 

Whereas fiscal year 2022 marked the return of ‘‘congressionally directed spending’’ and ‘‘community project funding’’, also known as ‘‘earmarks’’, after a 12-year hiatus; 

Whereas the return of earmarks marked the return of lawmakers using their powers to circumvent the rules of the 

Senate in order to direct taxpayer dollars to wasteful 

projects; 

Whereas, while Congress has the power of the purse, it must 

be prescriptive and effective in funding programs, 

projects, and activities of the Federal Government, which 

is now more than $34,000,000,0000,0000 in debt, rather 


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•SRES 580 IS 

than focus on funding earmarks that are wasteful in nature; 

Whereas the 118th Congress has reinstituted and embraced 

the wasteful practice of earmarking, as shown by the 

more than 5,000 requests for earmarks in the House of 

Representatives and the more than 19,000 requests for 

earmarks in the Senate for fiscal year 2024; 

Whereas Congress has already dramatically increased earmarking since its return, increasing from $9,000,000,000 

for 4,970 earmarks passed in fiscal year 2022 to 

$15,300,000,000 for 7,234 earmarks passed in fiscal 

year 2023; 

Whereas the reckless, 1,653 page, $1,700,000,000,000 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117– 

328) enacted in December 2022, appropriated billions of 

dollars to earmarks even though the United States is 

more than $34,000,000,000,000 in debt and experiencing 

the highest level of inflation seen in 40 years; 

Whereas the massive, fiscal year 2023 omnibus spending bill 

included funding for earmarks, including $3,600,000 for 

the Michelle Obama Trail in Georgia, $2,500,000 for a 

Chinatown arts building in San Francisco, $7,000,000 to 

fix staircases in the city of Pittsburgh, $12,000,000 for 

a pedestrian walkway in Vermont, and $3,000,000 for a 

theater and event space in Pennsylvania, in addition to 

other earmark projects such as botanical gardens in California, bike parking in Maryland, streetscaping in Connecticut, and a dance festival in Massachusetts; 

Whereas the fiscal year 2024 minibus spending bill released 

on March 3, 2024, includes 605 pages of earmarks with 

6,630 individual projects totaling $12,700,000,000, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 07, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR580.IS SR580

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•SRES 580 IS 

cluding $3,500,000 for Michigan’s Thanksgiving Parade 

Foundation, $1,000,000 for an environmental justice center in New York City, $500,000 for gardens in San 

Francisco, $4,000,000 for a waterfront walkway in New 

Jersey, theater and opera house renovations in Georgia 

and Pennsylvania, and city hall renovations in Washington and Rhode Island; 

Whereas former Senator Tom Coburn condemned the use of 

earmarks as a ‘‘gateway drug to overspending’’ and 

former Senator John McCain called earmarks ‘‘the gateway drug to corruption and overspending in Washington’’; 

Whereas several former Members of Congress and lobbyists 

have been convicted of crimes related to earmarking; 

Whereas it is crucial that Congress spend taxpayer dollars 

wisely and with the best return on investment, especially 

during times of historic inflation and Federal debt levels; 

and 

Whereas Congress must stop this reckless Federal spending 

and corrupt political dealing, start paying down the debt 

of the United States, and get the United States back on 

track: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) condemns the use of ‘‘congressionally di3 rected spending’’ and ‘‘community project funding’’, 

4 known as ‘‘earmarks’’, to direct and appropriate tax5 payer dollars in any form; 


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•SRES 580 IS 

1 (2) reaffirms the previous ban on the use of 

2 earmarks and affirms to restore the ban perma3 nently and immediately; and 

4 (3) affirms the need for Congress to reign in 

5 overspending to help curb the inflation crisis that is 

6 crippling the families of the United States. 

Æ 


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