Congress has made 2020 into another year of porky earmarks

The federal government set a new record for deficit spending in June, which makes it all the more frustrating that members of Congress carved out $15.9 billion this fiscal year in crony earmarks for their home states, according to a new report.

The 2020 Congressional Pig Book, published this week by Citizens Against Government Waste, finds that this fiscal year, Congress has carved out more money in corrupt earmarks than any year in the last decade. Earmarks are add-on legislative provisions that set aside a sum of money for specific projects, businesses, or recipients. As you might imagine, earmarks are incredibly prone to abuse. For example, former Rep. Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham spent seven years in jail over an earmark bribery scandal.