The House's Budget Bill Cuts Earmarks, but Spending Will Be Going Up Anyway
Every cut helps, but that's not where the money is.
The House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution (C.R.) on Tuesday to keep the government funded through September. The measure now heads to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain, although some Democrats appear to be ready to support the bill to avert a government shutdown.
The C.R. keeps most federal programs funded at FY 2024 levels, excluding defense spending, which will receive a $7 billion boost. A few notable energy and environment programs will receive funding cuts, including the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office (LPO), which will see its budget fall from its FY 2024 level of $70 million to $55 million. Created in 2005 to fund first-of-its-kind energy projects, the program's lending authority spiked under the Biden administration—jumping from $17 billion in 2021 to more than $400 billion in 2024. With a majority of this authority set to expire in FY 2026, the agency's inspector general warned in November 2024 that the LPO was at high risk for fraud and abuse.
The C.R. also cuts all earmarked funding from the FY 2024 spending bill, which amounted to nearly $15.8 billion. The Army Corps of Engineers, which received $1.5 billion (a 49 percent increase over FY 2023) for various infrastructure projects in congressional districts, was given $18.5 million for "operations and maintenance" at Georgia's Brunswick Harbor. The scope of the project includes annual maintenance dredging. Despite this and regular annual appropriations, dredging activities have not commenced. In a February letter to the chief of the Corps of Engineers, Sens. Jon Ossoff (D–Ga.) and Raphael Warnock (D–Ga.) wrote, "This collective failure to execute a basic mission with ample funding provided by Congress raises serious concerns about the Corps' ability to effectively and collaboratively execute such projects in future years."
Earmarks in the last fiscal year also benefited wealthier congressional districts that do not need additional federal assistance. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D–N.J.), who represents the Garden State's wealthiest district, secured over $959,000 for stormwater resiliency upgrades in Maplewood, New Jersey, a town with a median household income of $167,428. Earmarked funding for Putnam Valley, New York—whose median household income was nearly $135,000 in 2023—gave the town $1.5 million to replace a pump station at a waste treatment plant.
As the C.R. cuts some wasteful spending for energy and environment projects, it also boots funding for others, including wildfire suppression programs at the Department of the Interior. The federal government's wildfire management strategy has historically prioritized suppression and rapid response over active forest management, including activities like mechanical thinning and prescribed burns. From 2010 to 2020, "federal spending on fire suppression was five times greater than spending on fuel treatments," according to the Property and Environment Research Center. This has created more wildfire risk, especially in Western states.
Cutting earmarks hopefully signals that members of Congress are ready to end the wasteful practice altogether. Still, the C.R. does not appear to fully appreciate America's fiscal situation ($28.91 trillion in debt held by the public). The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget calculates that the net result of the bill is a "$10 billion increase in funding above FY 2024 levels." Overall, it will reduce the federal deficit by only $8 billion through 2034.
