House Democrats ban earmarks for private contractors - washingtonpost

Earmarks, while a tiny sliver of the more than $1 trillion Congress expends every year in discretionary spending, have emerged in the past five years as a key issue of ethics and corruption allegations. While most of these funds are steered toward congressional districts for local projects, critics say earmarks skew the spending process to favor contractors who hire the right lobbying firms and make donations to lawmakers on the appropriations committees. - Private contractor earmarks cut

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