EARMARK✱WATCH
$585,000 — one night’s hotel bill in Paris $592,527 — study on why chimpanzees throw poop $146,000,000 — business-class upgrades for federal employees $60,000 — IRS parody films of Star Trek & Gilligan’s Island $27,000,000 — pottery classes in Morocco $505,000 — beauty products for cats and dogs $96,000 — iPads for Maine kindergartners $2,000,000 — internship program, one intern hired $10,000 — talking urinal cakes in Michigan $1,000,000 — poetry posted in zoos $25,000 — Alabama Watermelon Queen tour $300,000 — promoting Idaho caviar
A citizen ledger on public money · est. 2017

We promote individual and collective change

Every year, thousands of earmarks steer taxpayer dollars to pet projects with no competitive bidding, no merit review, and almost no debate. Earmark Watch keeps the receipts — case by case, dollar by dollar — so citizens can demand better.

Open the case files What’s an earmark?
The United States Capitol dome
The appropriations happen here
Start here

Oversight is a citizen’s job

Earmarks get little scrutiny from Congress and less from the press. That leaves the watching to us — and to you. Here is the whole method, in three moves.

Nº 01

Learn the term

“Earmark” hides behind friendlier names — member-directed spending, programmatic adjustments, lettermarks. Learn what the word means and how the money moves.

Nº 02

Follow the money

Read the case files. Check the watchlist of questionable programs. Ask who received the funds, who lobbied for them, and who donated to whom.

Nº 03

Make noise

Citizen movements have already clawed back billions. Join one, write to your representative — or send us the absurd line item you found.

The case files

Ten investigations, kept open

Case Nº 08

The Military Aid Scandal

$28 million on forest camouflage — for an army defending a country that is 98% desert.

Spendings Control

What is an earmark, anyway?

A provision slipped into a spending bill that steers taxpayer dollars to a specific project or recipient — chosen by a member of Congress, outside any competitive or merit-based process.

Congress “banned” the practice in 2010. The money kept moving; only the vocabulary changed. That is why the watching never stops.

Read the full definition
“Work like tireless bloodhounds to root out government inefficiency and waste of tax dollars.”
President Reagan’s charge to the Grace Commission, 1982
The receipts

Your money, itemized

United States of America · selected line items

Business-class flight upgrades, federal employees$146,000,000
Teaching pottery design in Morocco$27,000,000
Senate hair care, 15-year running total$5,250,000
Internship program — one full-time intern hired$2,000,000
Poetry snippets posted in zoos, one year$1,000,000
One night in Paris, VP delegation hotel bill$585,000
Study: why chimpanzees throw poop$592,527
Study: the first bird on Earth probably had black feathers$300,000
Full watchlist18 line items

See the full watchlist

Seen an absurd line item?

Whistleblowers and plain curious citizens are how every good case starts. Tell us what you found — we will do the digging.

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