House GOP spending bills pack billions in earmarks, sparking backlash from fiscal hawks

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Three spending bills up for consideration in the House of Representatives this week bring with them billions in add-ons that fiscal conservatives believe go against Republicans’ promises of trimming federal overspending. 

Republican bills for Commerce, Justice, and Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment will come to the floor for consideration on Thursday — three of the 12 needed bills to fund the government in FY 2026.

In addition to funding their respective parts of the government, the package includes $6.5 billion in earmarks, unrelated funding that is included at the request of a lawmaker.

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Republicans will be defending their razor-thin House majority in the 2026 midterm elections. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

Members of both parties have earmarks included in Thursday’s legislation.

Republicans banned earmarks over a decade ago, but the practice was brought back by Democrats in 2021 under the guise of "community projects." Although getting earmarks onto spending packages now includes heightened scrutiny, fiscal Republicans maintain the practice continues to allow Congress to pass unnecessary expenses that add up. 

The bill for the Interior and Environment carries more than $1.7 billion in earmarks. Funding in the Energy and Water bill has over $3 billion, and legislation for Commerce, Justice, and Science includes another $1.7 billion.

Across the three bills, the legislation carries more than 3,000 individual items. 

Lawmakers like Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, slammed the bills for including items like a $1 million fund for Generation Hope — a Somali-led organization in Minnesota that helps communities combat drug addiction.

"This is a perfect example of why Congress needs to abandon earmarks now!" Lee wrote in a post to X.

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Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, arrives for a vote in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, July 23, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

Lee’s alarm comes as investigators at the local and federal levels have uncovered widespread fraud schemes in Minnesota — many of which prosecutors say are run by individuals of Somali descent. Investigators believe the fraud could amount to as much as $9 billion.

According to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., lawmakers plan to strike the provision introduced by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., following Republican backlash. But other problematic earmarks remain.

Fellow Republican Chip Roy, R-Texas, also blasted the legislation, highlighting several items adding millions to the package’s bottom line.

"EARMARKS: CURRENCY OF CORRUPTION," Roy said in his own post. 

He pointed out that $260,000 had been set aside in Rhode Island at the request of Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., for the Nonviolence Institute — a group fighting violence by opposing racism.

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Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, sits next to Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., as he listens during a House Rules Committee meeting on the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, May 21, 2025. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

In another earmark, Roy noted $1,999,000 had been set aside for Vermont Legal Aid’s Justice Mobile program at the request of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. According to Roy, the program provides free legal assistance to illegal immigrants and attempts to help them secure welfare benefits. 

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., argued the earmarks would allow Democrats to put funding behind their own priorities even amid a Republican trifecta in Washington. 

"Democrats are trying to turn this appropriations package into another slush fund for their political passion projects — adding earmarks for groups that undermine [President Donald Trump]," Scott said in a post to X.

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Amid a razor-thin margin of control in the House brought on by the recent death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., and the resignation of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Republicans can only afford to lose two votes to pass any party-line piece of legislation.