It is a way for a single lawmaker to direct federal money to a specific project back home, tucked into a giant spending bill. Beloved by the districts that get them, attacked as the very symbol of wasteful spending.
An earmark is a provision in a spending bill that directs funds to a specific project, place, or purpose, usually one in a particular lawmaker's home district or state. The term comes from the old practice of marking the ear of livestock to show ownership.
It is the mechanism behind pork barrel spending. Through earmarks, an individual member of Congress can secure money for a local bridge, building, or program by writing it directly into a larger bill, often with little broader scrutiny.
It cuts both ways. Defenders argue earmarks let elected representatives, who know their districts, direct money to real local needs, and that trading them can grease the wheels for passing larger legislation. Critics call them a prime source of waste and favoritism.
Their status has swung. Public outrage over notorious earmarks led Congress to ban them for about a decade starting around 2011, before they were revived in a more transparent form, with disclosure requirements, in the 2020s. The debate over them never fully settles.
