The Pork Hall of Shame Project
The PorkBusters campaign ended around 2010, and in the next year Congress did what the campaign had pushed for. Starting in 2011, House Republicans and Senate appropriators adopted a moratorium on earmarks. The ban was a party and committee rule, not a law, and it ended in 2021. Earmarks came back as Community Project Funding in the House and Congressionally Directed Spending in the Senate. As of November 2026, House members may each submit up to 20 requests per year, every request is posted publicly, and the government is running on a stopgap law through December 11, 2026. This year’s earmarks are not final until Congress passes the full-year spending bills for fiscal 2027.
What the PorkBusters campaign was
PorkBusters was a campaign run by bloggers against congressional earmarks. It operated from 2005 to about 2010. Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit and the pseudonymous blogger N.Z. Bear started it after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. They asked members of Congress to give up their own pet projects to help pay for Gulf Coast relief. N.Z. Bear also kept a public tracker of which lawmakers had made that pledge.
The “Hall of Shame” name was common among anti-earmark groups at the time. Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), a watchdog that has published its Congressional Pig Book since 1991, though not in every year, also used the label “Pork Hall of Shame” for its list of well-known earmarked projects. In 2017, CAGW said its Facebook and Twitter accounts would feature one project from that list every day.
The Bridge to Nowhere vote
The campaign’s best-known fight was in the Senate. On October 20, 2005, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) offered an amendment to the transportation appropriations bill, H.R. 3058. It would have moved money away from Alaska’s Gravina Island bridge, often called the “Bridge to Nowhere,” and toward rebuilding a bridge damaged by Katrina. PorkBusters supported the amendment.
The amendment failed 15 to 82. According to the Washington Times, 11 Republicans and 4 Democrats voted for it. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) argued strongly against it on the Senate floor. Opponents said the amendment singled out one state’s projects. Supporters said it showed that Congress would not trade lower-priority spending for disaster relief.
Lists and tracking
The campaign mostly worked by publishing lists. In July 2007, Military.com’s Defense Tech blog pointed readers to a PorkBusters.org list of 1,776 earmarks along with their sponsors. At the time, PorkBusters and like-minded bloggers asked readers to call their senators and representatives, compare members’ pledges with how they voted, and send in tips about projects they had found. Those calls to action belong to the campaign’s history. The site that runs at this address today is a separate, nonpartisan explainer with no link to the original organizers.
How earmarks were banned and then returned
The earmark ban lasted about ten years. It came from party rules, not from a statute, so Congress could end it without passing a law.
| Period | What happened | Who set the rule |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 to 2010 | Earmarks drew more criticism, partly because of the Bridge to Nowhere and the bribery conviction of Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA) | Watchdog groups and bloggers, including PorkBusters |
| 2007 | Congress required each earmark to be disclosed along with its sponsor | Honest Leadership and Open Government Act and House rules |
| 2011 to 2020 | A moratorium in the 112th Congress and every Congress after it | Party rules and committee protocols, with no points of order to enforce it |
| 2021 | Earmarks returned as Community Project Funding and Congressionally Directed Spending | House and Senate Appropriations Committees |
| 2022 to 2026 | Earmarks appeared in each enacted round of full-year appropriations | Both parties’ appropriators |
The Congressional Research Service makes a key point about the ban: it was never written into chamber rules. That is why the House Appropriations Committee could bring earmarks back in 2021 under new protocols.
How earmarks work in November 2026
Today’s earmarks run on stricter disclosure and eligibility rules than the ones PorkBusters criticized. These steps describe the House process:
- A member chooses up to 20 projects for the year across all appropriations subcommittees.
- The member posts each request publicly, including the recipient and the amount, and certifies having no financial interest in it.
- The subcommittee decides which requests to fund. Being requested does not guarantee money.
- A complete list of funded projects must be public for at least 48 hours before the House votes on the bill.
- The Government Accountability Office audits a sample of funded projects and reports to Congress.
Both chambers bar for-profit companies from receiving these earmarks. Total earmark spending is capped at about 1 percent of discretionary spending. The Senate uses the name Congressionally Directed Spending and posts its lists on the Senate Appropriations Committee website.
How big are earmarks now?
Estimates vary because each group counts different bills and accounts.
| Source | What it counted | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| CAGW 2026 Congressional Pig Book | FY2026 earmarks in appropriations bills | 8,595 earmarks, about $23.7 billion |
| National Taxpayers Union | Four FY2026 bills it reviewed | 2,880 earmarks, $5.25 billion |
| Congressional Research Service | Enacted FY2026 Agriculture bill only | 509 earmarks, $643 million |
| CAGW, all Pig Books since 1991 | Every earmark it has identified | 140,826 earmarks, $484 billion |
CAGW still names “Porkers of the Month,” and it picks members of both parties. In May 2026 it named Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN). Supporters of earmarks, including many appropriators, answer that members know their districts’ needs better than federal agencies do. They also argue that the Constitution gives Congress, not the executive branch, the power to direct spending. Home districts in both parties continue to request projects: a NewsOn6 report said senators submitted 11,472 FY2027 requests totaling $46.47 billion.
What happens next for FY2027
The fate of fiscal 2027 earmarks depends on what Congress passes before the stopgap runs out.
President Trump signed H.R. 6500, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027 (P.L. 119-103), on September 2, 2026. The House had passed it 370 to 48. It keeps agencies funded at existing levels through December 11, 2026. A stopgap of this kind does not fund new earmarks.
Lawmakers returned for the post-election lame-duck session on November 9. The House has passed some FY2027 bills. According to CRS, the House-passed Agriculture bill includes Community Project Funding in five USDA accounts. Congress now has three main options:
- Pass some or all of the 12 regular bills, alone or in packages, which would put FY2027 earmarks into effect.
- Pass a full-year continuing resolution. That would mostly carry over FY2026 funding decisions and would usually leave out new earmarks.
- Allow funding to lapse after December 11, which would cause a shutdown.
The 120th Congress will be sworn in on January 3, 2027. It will set its own earmark rules for FY2028.
FAQ
Are earmarks still banned in Congress?
No. The ban ran from 2011 until 2021, when the House Appropriations Committee brought earmarks back as Community Project Funding and the Senate as Congressionally Directed Spending. Each new Congress decides whether to keep them, through party conference rules and committee protocols.
What is the difference between Community Project Funding and Congressionally Directed Spending?
Both are earmarks: money set aside in a spending bill for a specific project chosen by a member of Congress. “Community Project Funding” is the House’s term and “Congressionally Directed Spending” is the Senate’s. In both chambers, the rules require public disclosure, a statement that the member has no financial interest, and no for-profit recipients.
Who started PorkBusters?
Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit and the blogger N.Z. Bear started it in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. They asked lawmakers to give up their own pet projects to help pay for relief. Its most visible moment was backing Sen. Tom Coburn’s 2005 amendment on the Bridge to Nowhere, which failed 15 to 82.
How can you see which earmarks your member of Congress requested?
House members post their requests on their official websites, and the House Appropriations Committee publishes the full tables. The Senate Appropriations Committee posts each senator’s Congressionally Directed Spending. Once money is awarded, USAspending.gov shows where it went.
Do earmarks increase the deficit?
Earmarks do not add to a bill’s total. They set aside part of money that is already being appropriated. Critics such as CAGW and the National Taxpayers Union argue that earmarks make it easier to win votes for higher overall spending. Supporters say the total spending levels are set elsewhere in the budget process.
Will there be FY2027 earmarks?
That depends on what Congress does before the December 11, 2026 deadline. If it passes regular appropriations bills, the earmarks in them take effect. A full-year continuing resolution would generally carry forward FY2026 funding without new earmarks.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service, “Overview of Continuing Appropriations for FY2027 (Division A of P.L. 119-103),” Congress.gov
- Congressional Research Service, “Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2027 Appropriations,” Congress.gov
- Congressional Research Service, “Community Project Funding: House Rules and Committee Protocols” (R46722)
- Congress.gov, H.R. 9770, Continuing Appropriations Act, 2027
- Senate Appropriations Committee, “FY 2026 Congressionally Directed Spending”
- Citizens Against Government Waste, 2026 Congressional Pig Book
About this article
- Fact-checked before publication.
- Published · Updated
