Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
Which lawmakers added the most earmarks to the 2025 budget?
Executive summary
Federal FY2025 earmark activity is complicated: some House and Senate appropriations markups included large requests, but a March 2025 continuing resolution (CR) eliminated the new FY2025 earmarks from enacted law, meaning many high-dollar requested totals never became law (Roll Call; CRS) [1] [2]. Roll Call’s tally identified Rep. James Comer as the top House earmarker in fiscal‑2025 appropriations bills with about $241.3 million in requested or reported earmarks, far above the next-ranked members [1].
1. How “most earmarks” is being measured — dollars requested vs. dollars enacted
Reporting uses different yardsticks. Roll Call’s ranking focuses on totals appearing in House appropriations bills or committee markups and credits lawmakers for amounts moving through that process; that produced the $241.3 million figure for Rep. James Comer [1]. But the Congressional Research Service (Library of Congress) notes that the full‑year continuing resolution for FY2025 did not allow new community project funding/congressionally directed spending to be enacted, so the FY2024 CFP/CDS remain the last fully enacted round — meaning many FY2025 earmark requests were never executed [2]. Put bluntly: a lawmaker can “lead” in requested or reported earmark dollars without those sums necessarily reaching districts if bills stalled or were trimmed in the CR [1] [2].
2. Who the reporting names as top earmarkers
Roll Call explicitly names Rep. James Comer (R‑Ky.) as the top House earmarker for fiscal 2025, with $241.3 million credited to him in the package of House appropriations bills then circulating [1]. Roll Call also notes that longtime earmarker Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R‑Tenn.) remained in the “upper echelon” with about $38.8 million even after being displaced at the top [1]. Separate coverage and analyses of earmarks in other outlets (e.g., E&E/Politico) indicate senior Senate appropriators such as Sen. Susan Collins and Sen. Mitch McConnell have been among leading Senate requesters in related cycles, though those pieces speak to slightly different years or later cycles [3].
3. Why seniority and committee spots dominate the list
Roll Call and other reporting highlight a predictable pattern: appropriations subcommittee chairs, senior members and leadership-adjacent lawmakers tend to top earmark lists because they have access and influence to secure large projects for their districts — the so‑called “appropriations cardinals” effect [1]. State and local reporting about state budgets finds a similar dynamic: Massachusetts and California analyses show lawmakers closest to leadership or key committees obtained outsized shares of budget insertions at the state level, illustrating that institutional power, not simply need, shapes who gets the most earmarks [4] [5].
4. The CR and the practical outcome for FY2025 projects
Roll Call, CRS and other outlets document a significant practical consequence: House Republican leaders and a subsequent CR ultimately stripped or zeroed out many FY2025 earmarked accounts, and the stopgap law cut billions that had been proposed for home‑state projects — meaning large portions of the FY2025 earmark totals reported in committee markups were not enacted into funded obligations [6] [2]. Local outlets reported communities (e.g., in Colorado) losing access to nearly $200 million because their earmarks were removed from the stopgap funding measure [7].
5. Limitations of available reporting and open questions
Available reporting provides dollar totals from appropriations markups and committee lists (Roll Call) and explains the CR’s effects (CRS, Roll Call), but it does not produce a single authoritative “most earmarks” ledger of enacted FY2025 spending because the CR prevented many FY2025 CPF/CDS from being finalized [1] [2]. The post‑markup legislative sequence (which requests were refiled for FY2026 or otherwise salvaged) is not covered in the sources provided here (not found in current reporting).
6. Takeaway for readers weighing the claim
If your question asks which lawmakers “added the most earmarks to the 2025 budget” in terms of amounts listed in House appropriations bills and markups, Roll Call’s reporting identifies Rep. James Comer as the top House recipient with roughly $241.3 million and places others like Chuck Fleischmann well below that [1]. If your question asks which lawmakers had the most enacted, spent earmarks in FY2025, the CRS and related reporting make clear many FY2025 earmarks were not enacted because the CR removed them, so enacted‑dollar rankings for FY2025 are not available in the provided sources [2].
Sources cited: Roll Call (analysis of House earmarks and Comer lead) [1]; Congressional Research Service / Congress.gov analysis and Roll Call on the continuing resolution’s cuts to earmarks [2] [6]; Colorado and state coverage on local impact [7]; state-level reporting on California and Massachusetts earmark dynamics [5] [4]; E&E/Politico context on Senate appropriators in related cycles [3].