Calling them “Community Funding Projects” (CFP) instead of using the infamous earmarks label, House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) confirmed late Friday that earmarks are again part of the congressional spending scene. “Members want Congress to help their communities, particularly now as the pandemic exposed so many inequalities and needs,” DeLauro said in a statement announcing the return. “Community Project Funding will allow Members to put their deep, first-hand understanding of the needs of their communities to work to help the people we represent.” Earmarks heretofore were obscure spending orders inserted, often anonymously, into major pieces of legislation that frequently benefitted a congressman’s family members, favored special interests, or campaign donors. Former Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), the main opponent of earmarks, described them as “the gateway to federal spending addiction” because congressional leaders in both parties used them to gain votes for legislation that an individual senator or representative would …
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