Staff Reports
Over 7,400 projects, or "amendments," amounting to $16 billion are being negotiated by members of Congress as part of a year-long spending bill that would fund the government until September 2023.
According to some members of Congress, an agreement has been reached regarding the framework of the spending bill. Bloomberg News reported that there are over 7,500 projects in the various appropriations bills for 2023 that could be included in the final package.
According to the Bloomberg Government, there are over 3,123 projects in the Senate's budget for 2023 and 4,386 in the House's. These projects total over $7 billion.
Bloomberg analyzed the Senate's spending bills for fiscal 2023 and found that there were over 3,123 projects worth over $7 billion included in them. The data collected from nine PDF files were then compiled into a central Excel document.
An analysis released earlier this year by the House revealed that members of Congress included over 4,386 projects worth over $8 billion in the House's spending bills. A central Excel document featuring the House's 4,386 projects can be accessed here. The Senate, on the other hand, has released 7,509 projects worth over $16 billion.
The total amount of money allocated for these projects is less than 1% of the $1.7 trillion that Congress hopes to finish this year. Members of Congress decided to implement a 1% cap on the number of projects that can be included in the new process when it was brought back into operation following a decade-long ban.
These are the spending provisions that Senate and House members attach to the bills that are expected to be passed and signed into law. According to the Congressional Research Service, these projects are known as "earmarks" because they are used to benefit a specific entity or district.
They allow members of Congress to spend their own money on projects that are located in their districts. In addition to benefiting their constituents, these provisions can also be used to reward special interests and donors. According to Joel Pollak, a political analyst from the conservative website, the main reason why members of Congress attach these projects to the bills is to help break the political gridlock.
The Bloomberg Government noted that powerful senators, such as Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Vice Chairman Richard Shelby of Alabama, are some of the individuals who would be the biggest winners if the negotiators reach a deal on the spending bill.
According to the Bloomberg Government's analysis, the hundreds of millions of dollars that Shelby received from the spending bill for the second year in a row were the most allocated for him.
Some of the projects that Shelby received from the spending bill include the construction of the Woolsey Finnell Bridge in Tuscaloosa and the University of Alabama's School of Medicine.
It's also possible that Congress will not be able to reach a deal on the spending bill before the end of the year. As a result, the projects that the outgoing members of Congress allocated for could be taken out during the next Congress.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on Breitbart.
