House Republicans reportedly are preparing to quash local projects and others deemed "woke" from the domestic spending bill for fiscal 2024.
Roll Call, citing unnamed sources, reported Monday the potential earmarks — which set aside funds for a particular project — are on the chopping block in the Labor-HHS-Education bill, as well as the smaller Financial Services measure, and might be rolled out this week.
According to Roll Call, the cuts are due, at least in part, to worries about earmarks funded in the fiscal 2023 spending package that included several LGBTQ and transgender services-related projects.
Republicans are also looking at potential domestic spending cuts to meet their pledge to cut more than $130 billion from current levels, Roll Call reported.
There were $15.3 billion worth of earmarks in the fiscal 2023 omnibus, Roll Call has reported, with the Labor-HHS-Education portion responsible for nearly $2.7 billion.
Earlier this month, House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, released a list of potential spending cuts to consider when discussing a debt limit increase, Roll Call reported.
The cuts list included a reference to "Stop Woke-Waste" targeting $1.2 million for LGBTQIA+ Pride Centers in the San Diego Community College District; $1 million for Zora's House, a nonprofit in Columbus, Ohio, that bills itself as a "coworking and community space built by and for women and gender expansive people of color"; $3.6 million for the Michelle Obama Trail project in DeKalb County, Ga.; and $750,000 for the TransLatin@Coalition in Los Angeles to "provide transgender, gender nonconforming and intersexed individuals in LA the services they need to enter, participate in, and complete broader workforce development programs.”
House GOP appropriators also are mulling getting rid of defense bill earmarks that can be slashed without threatening the bulk of the military budget, Roll Call reported, noting defense bill earmarks only totaled $16 million in the fiscal 2023 package. The Senate Appropriations Committee disallows earmarks in that chamber's version of the bill.
Roll Call noted the Senate panel released its guidelines for earmarking in fiscal 2024 spending bills earlier this month that were little changed from the year before.
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