Earmarking federal funds for their home districts continues to grow in popularity among House Republicans, with 152 GOP members and two nonvoting delegates participating in the process this year, a CQ Roll Call analysis found.
Nearly 70 percent of House Republicans are seeking earmarks this year, based on member request data compiled by the House Appropriations Committee. That’s up from almost 60 percent of the conference last year and just over half the year before.
Overall, House members asked for 5,067 earmarks, a nearly 7 percent increase over last year, for a total of $19.4 billion, a more substantial increase of over 56 percent from last year’s total amount requested of $12.4 billion.
