earmark
A provision directing money to a specific project, place, or recipient. Now called congressionally directed spending and required to be disclosed with a sponsor's name.
Earmarks let individual members steer appropriations to named projects at home. They were banned in 2011 after a run of scandals, then revived in 2021 under disclosure rules: each request is public, tied to a named member, capped as a share of discretionary spending, and barred from benefiting the member financially. Defenders argue they help pass bills; critics argue they buy votes with public money.
Also written as: congressionally directed spending, community project funding
Browse every term in the glossary, or see the vocabulary in motion in the How government works walkthroughs.