We elected President Trump and a Republican Congress to cut government spending. The Department of Government Efficiency showed us much of the wasteful spending. Congress just passed a bunch of spending bills loaded with earmarks. Is Congress listening to the people who elected them?<\/p>\n
On Monday, Open The Books<\/a> reported:<\/p>\n Most universities dream of wealthy alumni who will send massive donations to their alma maters. The kind who contribute millions of dollars year after year, funding libraries, laboratories and more.<\/strong><\/p>\n A select few universities have found such a wealthy, if unwitting, donor for 2026: the U.S. taxpayer, by way of pork-hungry senators.<\/strong><\/p>\n Twenty-four senators requested $636 million of earmarks for the universities they attended as students. That\u2019s more than 20% of the $3.7 billion of earmarks requested for universities in the 2026 federal budget, according to Open the Books\u2019 review of congressional disclosures<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n The list includes 13 Democrats and 11 Republicans. However, it was Republicans who requested $470 million (74%) of the cash.<\/strong><\/p>\n The average alma mater earmark request is worth $4.9 million this year. Earmark requests for universities that are not affiliated with a senator were worth only $3 million on average.<\/strong><\/p>\n This is a partial list:<\/p>\n Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)<\/strong> Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV)<\/strong> Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)<\/strong> Sen. John Boozman (R-AR)<\/strong> The article concludes:<\/p>\n The government will shut down on Jan. 31 if Congress cannot agree on a 2026 federal budget. Unfortunately for taxpayers, alma mater earmarks appear to be one of the few items that lawmakers from both parties support.<\/strong><\/p>\n Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) introduced an amendment on Jan. 22<\/a> to strike all earmarks from the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill, calling them \u201cpartisan pet projects\u201d that are \u201coutside the core mission\u201d of the bill.<\/strong><\/p>\n He was unsuccessful<\/a>. Seventy-six House Republicans joined 215 Democrats in voting to keep the earmarks intact. Another eight Republicans and one Democrat abstained. The results were unsurprising, given that 31 House members secured $131 million<\/a> for their own alma maters last year.<\/strong><\/p>\n Each one gets an \u201cF\u201d for fiscal sanity.<\/strong><\/p>\n This is unacceptable.<\/p>\n This is the link<\/a> to download the full list of donations to alma maters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We elected President Trump and a Republican Congress to cut government spending. The Department of Government Efficiency showed us much of the wasteful spending. Congress just passed a bunch of spending bills loaded with earmarks. Is Congress listening to the … Continue reading
\nUniversity of Kentucky, University of Louisville<\/strong>
\n7 earmark requests worth $164.9 million<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nMarshall University<\/strong>
\n9 earmark requests worth $57.5 million<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nWashington State University<\/strong>
\n2 earmark requests worth $50.9 million<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nUniversity of Arkansas-Fayetteville<\/strong>
\n2 earmark requests worth $4.3 million<\/strong><\/p>\n