Data from the Bipartisan Policy Center reveal that congressmen in the House Freedom Caucus requested earmarks in last month’s omnibus bill—a move at odds with the conservative caucus’s critical previous statements on earmarks, but possibly in line with private discussions among its members.
“Earmarks are the currency of corruption. The @freedomcaucus opposes earmarks, whether in the 117th Congress or any future Congress,” the House Freedom Caucus’s official Twitter account wrote in February 2021, shortly before the 2011 moratorium on earmarking came to an end.
It later followed up with a March Tweet emphasizing the bloc’s anti-earmarking stance.
“We shouldn’t revive the culture of buying votes on bad legislation with bribes to member districts,” wrote House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) in response to that Tweet. Data from the Bipartisan Policy Center show Rosendale did not request earmarks, also known as congressionally directed spending or Community Project Funding (CPF).
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