A partisan rift over the distribution of earmarks in next year’s appropriations bills spilled out into the open Wednesday as House Democratic appropriators accused panel Republicans of sharing far more money with their own side of the aisle than is equitable.
In the 117th Congress when Democrats had the majority, the Appropriations Committee operated under an agreement where Democrats received roughly 63 percent of earmarked funds in the initial House spending bills, leaving 37 percent for the minority Republicans, ranking member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said. House Republicans have decided to keep that split between the majority and minority in this Congress.
The fiscal year 2023 House bills, drafted by the Democratic majority, featured about $5.1 billion in earmarks for Democrats across 3,198 projects, and just over $3 billion for Republicans across 1,165 projects, according to a CQ Roll Call analysis at the time. That works out to about a 62-38 split.
