Republicans Split on Whether to Cut Earmarks Ahead of DOGE Meeting With Musk, Ramaswamy

Musk and Ramaswamy will attend the Dec. 5 meeting that the host, House Speaker Mike Johnson, says will focus on regulations. Some want earmarks on the table.
Republicans Split on Whether to Cut Earmarks Ahead of DOGE Meeting With Musk, Ramaswamy
Elon Musk, CEO and Chief Engineer of SpaceX, and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy arrive ahead of a meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson in Congress in Washington on Dec. 5, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
Arjun Singh
Updated:
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WASHINGTON–Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, leaders of the incoming Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, will meet with Republicans in Congress on Dec. 5 to discuss reducing the size of the federal government. Though few details of their plans have been released, members are divided on whether to scrap earmarks, a provision of the government funding process that has concerned fiscal conservatives for years.

Earmarks are provisions in Congress’s annual appropriations (government funding) bills that allocate taxpayer money to specific projects and locations, bypassing a merit-based competitive process normally required for government grants and contracts. Several fiscal conservatives in Congress, chiefly Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), have long said that earmarking leads to wasteful spending and amounts to “pork” for local special interests.

Arjun Singh
Arjun Singh
Author
Arjun Singh is a reporter for The Epoch Times, covering national politics and the U.S. Congress.
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