Community funding projects are roaring back for fiscal 2026 spending bills, after being stripped from a short-term stopgap spending deal earlier this year, as the House faces the difficult task of passing all 12 appropriations bills before the government shutdown looms in September.

The projects, also known as earmarks, have been a long-standing sticking point for conservatives. Nixing the earmarks in the continuing resolution, or CR, gave hard-right fiscal hawks a win in March, but now, lawmakers have requested billions of dollars for special projects across seven of the 12 bills. 

Recommended Stories

• Stefanik warns Schumer and Jeffries prop up 'Marxist-communist wing' of Democratic Party
• House Oversight members call for arrests over Obama 2016 election narrative
• ‘We owe Melania’ for Trump pivot on Russia-Ukraine war, Bacon says

Republicans must pass the bills before Sept. 30; otherwise, the government will run out of funding. It has recently proven difficult for the GOP majority to pass appropriations, as only five bills for fiscal 2025 were passed. In fiscal 2024, six bills were passed individually, and the remaining six were combined into the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024.

GOP BATTLE BREWS OVER ‘GATEWAY DRUG’ OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING: EARMARKS

Earmarks had been a Democratic-backed process over the years, as conservatives have blasted increased spending levels and money funneling toward “woke” projects. However, many Republicans are getting in on the earmark action even as the GOP has been working to axe spending across all committees, most recently in the “big beautiful bill” signed into law on the Fourth of July.

The projects are available for seven subcommittees of the House Appropriations Committee: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies; Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies; Homeland Security; Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies. 

The first appropriations bill for the Defense Department, worth $832 billion, passed the House early Friday morning. The legislation did not include any earmarks, though the Defense bill has had project funding in past years. 

Labor-HHS-Education and Financial Services bills did not receive opportunities for earmarks, a decision made in 2023 by former Texas Republican Rep. Kay Granger when she chaired the committee and Republicans had taken the majority. Neither the State-Foreign Operations nor the Legislative Branch subcommittees allow for project requests.

After Granger’s changes in 2023, some conservatives began requesting earmarks that they did not when Democrats held the gavel. Among them were Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Andy Harris (R-MD) requested projects for this FY26 appropriations cycle.

Each House member can request 15 projects, but not all are accepted. However, the inclusion of earmarks in the bills does not guarantee that money is on its way to their districts. The appropriations bill must pass the House and Senate and head to President Donald Trump’s desk.

Agriculture

Over 100 Republicans requested and were approved for earmarks, compared to 90 Democrats.

Harris, chairman of the Freedom Caucus, received the most earmarks, totaling $21.5 million for seven projects. The projects ranged from a youth crisis center to developing a Ph.D. program for veterinary medicine at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore. 

Many of the members were granted several of their requests. Reps. Robert Aderholt (R-AL), Don Davis (D-NC), Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), Dan Meuser (R-PA), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), and Glenn Thompson (R-PA) each had five or more projects approved. 

One major takeaway from the Agriculture earmarks is that most of the money will go toward revamping or constructing university buildings, labs, or equipment. One of Meuser’s approved earmarks will send money to construct a new arts building in Shenandoah.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who is likely to run for governor, has three approved earmarks totaling $6.08 million: two fire stations and a medical center. 

Commerce

Many of the Commerce earmarks are related to updating police equipment, stations, vehicles, and programs designed to combat crime. 

Republicans mainly directed their earmarks toward bolstering existing police forces, whether with new or improved patrol cars, task forces, or public safety projects. 

For example, Rep. Trent Kelly (R-MS) has seven earmarks totaling $8 million, many of which focus on updating and advancing police equipment.

Democrats’ earmarks have funds funneling toward alternative policing strategies, such as community violence prevention, school-based crime prevention, empowerment programs for youths, and de-escalation task forces or projects.

Rep. Glenn Ivey’s (D-MD) $1 million earmark would go toward a school-based violence prevention program for Prince George’s County. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has a $1 million earmark for a violence prevention collaboration in central Brooklyn. 

Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) has $1 million earmark for a mental health response team and a “camera technology project,” and Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) has a similar earmark for the same price.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who is stoking speculation that she may run for Senate or president in 2028, has three projects totaling $1.6 million. The projects include a response to youth violence in Queens, a sexual assault and violence intervention program, and a Bronx First Chance for Reentry Success for incarcerated people.

Other aspects of the Commerce earmarks focused on additional university upgrades or constructions 

Rep. Chuck Fleischman (R-TN) was approved for $9.7 million in earmarks across three projects, including one that would enhance STEM at Tennessee Wesleyan University. Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) has a $5 million earmark for Advancing Manufacturing in Space at Louisiana State University.

Two earmarks mentioned the climate, an area of importance for Democrats. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) requested $1 million for the Climate Corps Fellowship. The website for the corps details that the fellows are graduate students who “work with companies, public institutions, and non-profit organizations to meet climate commitments.” 

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) requested and was approved in the bill text for $750,000 toward climate research and public education at the New York Botanical Garden.

Energy and Water Development

Energy and water development projects are costly in the 2026 appropriations bills. Some of the earmarks, mostly from House Republicans, are working on projects for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) requested the most money. The project would use the $461 million to work on ecosystem restoration in South Florida with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 

Twenty-nine Democrats and 44 Republicans had one or more of their requested earmarks approved. Some were awarded multiple projects, and some involved collaboration with another party member.

But Reschenthaler worked across the aisle with Rep. Chris Delizio (D-PA) on an earmark,  requesting over $183 million for their “Upper Ohio, Allegheny and Beaver counties, PA” earmark as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project.

Homeland Security

More Democrats than Republicans were approved for earmarks in the Homeland Security FY26 bill, 51 to 42.

This bill received the second-least number of earmarks compared to the rest. Among the requests, $5.2 million was approved for Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) for flood mitigation management. 

Many Democrats, particularly in California, requested and were approved for constructing or upgrading Emergency Operations Centers, or EOCs, which are central locations used for coordinating responses to crises. California, along with Texas and North Carolina, were recently hit by natural disasters, and so far, there has not been an aid package sent to the floor for a vote.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) requested and was approved for $2.6 million to harden the Lealman Community Hurricane Shelter in her district. Hurricanes swept through Florida, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Tennessee earlier this year.

Further inland, one of the more expensive requests was $1.1 million to restore North Summit St. in Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s (D-OH) district. Kaptur is among a few Ohio Democrats defending a competitive seat in the trending red state.

Interior and Environment

The 2026 bill included many earmarks for the Interior, Environment, and other related agencies. Most of them came from House GOP members.

The requests include all funds going toward Clean Water State Revolving Fund projects. House GOP Conference chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-MI) had 12 earmarks totaling nearly $15.4 million to improve sewer systems, stormwater mitigation, and other areas.

In addition, progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) also requested and received approval for three requests to help combat the same issues at $3 million. 

Greene was approved for $2.7 million for four projects related to water infrastructure. Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) had eight projects totaling $15.6 million, each going to a different city’s water treatment or sewer improvement projects.

Military/Veterans Affairs

Military and Veterans Affairs had minimal earmarks approved, 19 in total, but each came with a hefty price tag. Only Republicans have earmarks for this FY26 bill. 

Four earmarks, each costing $50 million, were requested by Reps. Carlos Giménez (R-FL), Brett Guthrie (R-NC), Jake Ellzey (R-TX), and Guam Del. James Moylan.

Giménez’s earmark provides the funds to create the Joint Interagency Task Force-South Command and Control Facility for the Army at the Naval Air Station in Key West. Guthrie’s earmark would create an Aviation Support Facility for the Army Reserve at Fort Knox. 

Ellzey’s $50 million earmark is going toward a maintenance hangar for the Navy Reserve at the Naval Air Station in Fort Worth. Moylan’s earmark would create defense access roads for the Navy in Guam.

Other costly earmarks include $45.4 million for communications infrastructure for the Navy at the USMC Support Facility in Blount Island, Florida, for Rep. John Rutherford (R-FL). A $44.7 million earmark for Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) goes toward base upgrades for Fort Bragg.

Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development

In the Fiscal Year 2026 House appropriations bills, a significant portion of earmarked projects were directed toward transportation, housing, and urban development agencies. 

The largest individual request came from Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR), who was approved for $59 million for the Springdale Northern Bypass under highway infrastructure programs. Echoing a broader trend, Republican House members more frequently prioritized infrastructure and airport funding in their earmarks.

TRUMP’S $9 BILLION DOGE CUTS PASS HOUSE AS JOHNSON TEMPERS GOP DIVISIONS OVER EPSTEIN VOTES

In contrast, House Democrats focused heavily on economic development initiatives, which encompass a wide range of community-based projects such as housing, school and park upgrades, water systems, community centers, and docks. Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) led in this category, receiving approval for 12 requests totaling over $13 million.

Democrats received a higher volume of earmark requests compared to Republicans. However, GOP members generally requested and received larger sums per individual earmark.

The House will next pass the remaining 11 appropriations bills and send them to the Senate, which also has an earmarks process. If GOP leadership can’t get all the bills done by the fall, they could seek to pass a stopgap measure to keep the government open and buy more time.