Congress Falls Off Wagon, Leaps Back Into Pork Barrel With $9.6 Billion in New Earmarks

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) questions witnesses about military equipment given to local law enforcement departments by the federal government during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing about at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in DC, on Sept.9, 2014. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

News Analysis

The late Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) earned his “Dr. No” nickname in the U.S. Senate with his determined opposition to earmarks, which he called “the gateway drug for federal spending addiction” that hooks so many senators and representatives.