Earmark Disclosure Rules in the House:
Member and Committee Requirements
Updated December 3, 2020
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
RS22866

Earmark Disclosure Rules in the House: Member and Committee Requirements

Summary
Earmark disclosure rules in both the House and Senate establish certain administrative
responsibilities that vary by chamber. Under House rules, a Member requesting that an earmark
be included in legislation is responsible for providing specific written information, such as the
purpose and recipient of the earmark, to the committee of jurisdiction. Further, House committees
are responsible for compiling, presenting, and maintaining such requests in accord with House
rules. In the House, disclosure rules apply to any congressional earmark, limited tax benefit, or
limited tariff benefit included in either the text of a bil or any report accompanying the measure,
including a conference report and joint explanatory statement. The disclosure requirements apply
to earmarks in appropriations legislation, authorizing legislation, and tax measures. Furthermore,
they apply not only to measures reported by committees but also to measures not reported by
committees, “manager’s amendments,” and conference reports. This report wil be updated as
needed.
Congressional Research Service

Earmark Disclosure Rules in the House: Member and Committee Requirements

Introduction
In the 110th Congress (2007-2008), the House and Senate codified earmark disclosure
requirements into their respective chamber rules with the stated intention of bringing more
transparency to the earmarking process. In the 112th Congress (2011-2012), the House and Senate
began observing what has been referred to as an “earmark moratorium” or “earmark ban.” The
earmark disclosure rules in both the House and Senate, however, remain in place. For more
information on the earmark moratorium, see CRS Report R45429, Lifting the Earmark
Moratorium: Frequently Asked Questions, by Megan S. Lynch.
The administrative responsibilities associated with earmark disclosure rules vary by chamber.
This report outlines the major administrative responsibilities of Members and committees of the
House of Representatives associated with the chamber’s earmark disclosure rules.
House Earmark Disclosure Rule
House Rule XXI, clause 9, general y requires that certain types of measures be accompanied by a
list of congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits that are included in
the measure or its report or a statement that the proposition contains no earmarks. Depending
upon the type of measure, the list or statement is to be either included in the measure’s
accompanying report or printed in the Congressional Record.
Rule XXI, clause 9, explicitly defines congressional earmark, limited tax benefit, and limited
tariff benefit as follows:
Congressional earmark- a provision or report language included primarily at the request
of a Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, or Senator providing, authorizing or
recommending a specific amount of discretionary budget authority, credit authority, or
other spending authority for a contract, loan, loan guarantee, grant, loan authority, or other
expenditure with or to an entity, or targeted to a specific State, locality or congressional
district, other than through a statutory or administrative formula driven or competitive
award process.
Limited tax benefit- (1) any revenue-losing provision that (A) provides a federal tax
deduction, credit, exclusion, or preference to 10 or fewer beneficiaries under the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, and (B) contains eligibility criteria that are not uniform in
application with respect to potential beneficiaries of such provision; or (2) any federal tax
provision which provides one beneficiary temporary or permanent transition relief from a
change to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
Limited tariff benefit- a provision modifying the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States in a manner that benefits 10 or fewer entities.
If either the list of earmarks1 or the letter stating that no earmark exists in the measure is absent, a
point of order may lie against the measure’s floor consideration. The point of order applies only
in the absence of such a list or letter and does not speak to the completeness or the accuracy of
either document.2 A point of order may lie against the consideration of any general appropriations
conference report containing earmarks that are included in conference reports but not committed

1 For the purposes of this report, from this point forward the term earmark includes any congressional earmark, limited
tax benefit , or limited tariff benefit.
2 U.S. Congress, House, Constitution, Jefferson’s Manual, and Rules of the House of Representatives of the United
States, 110th Congress, H. Doc 109-157 (Washington: GPO, 2007), §1068e.
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Earmark Disclosure Rules in the House: Member and Committee Requirements

to conference by either chamber and not in a House or Senate committee report on the legislation.
Such a point of order would be disposed of by a question of consideration, which is debatable for
20 minutes.3
Legislation Subject to the Rule
House earmark disclosure rules apply to any congressional earmark included in either the text of
the bil or the committee report accompanying the bil as wel as the conference report and joint
explanatory statement. The disclosure requirements apply to items in authorizing legislation,
appropriations legislation, and tax measures. Furthermore, they apply not only to measures
reported by committees but also to unreported measures, “manager’s amendments,”4 Senate bil s,
and conference reports.
These earmark disclosure requirements, however, do not apply to al legislation at al times. For
example, when a measure is considered under the “suspension of the rules” procedure, House
rules are laid aside, and therefore earmark disclosure rules do not apply. Also not subject to the
rule are floor amendments (except a manager’s amendment), amendments between the houses, or
amendments considered as adopted under a self-executing special rule, including a committee
amendment in the nature of a substitute made in order as original text.5
Requirements for Members Submitting Earmark
Requests
Under House Rule XXIII, clause 17(a), a Member6 requesting a congressional earmark is
required to provide a written statement to the chairman and ranking minority Member of the
committee of jurisdiction that includes
1. the Member’s name;
2. the name and address of the intended earmark recipient (or, if there is no specific
recipient, the location of the intended activity);
3. in the case of a limited tax or tariff benefit, identification of the individual or
entities reasonably anticipated to benefit to the extent known to the Member;
4. the purpose of the earmark; and
5. a certification that the Member or Member’s spouse has no financial interest in
such an earmark.7

3 House Rule XXI, 9(c), adopted under H.Res. 5 (111th Congress), January 6, 2009. T his provision had previously been
adopted as a standing order of the House under H.Res. 491 (110th Congress).
4 As defined in the rule and clarified in a letter from the House Parliamentarian to the chairman of the House
Committee on Rules (Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 153 [October 3, 2007], pp. H11184-H11185), a
“manager’s amendment” is “an amendment offered at the outset of consideration for amendment by a member of a
committee of initial referral under the terms of a special rule.”
5 Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 153 [October 3, 2007], pp. H11184-H11185.
6 In this report, Member includes Members, delegates, or the resident commissioner.
7 Guidance and clarification in determining a financial interest is available in U.S. Congress, House Committee on
Standards of Official Conduct, The House Ethics Manual, 110th Cong., 2nd sess., 2008, (Washington: GPO, 2008), pp.
238-239. Available also at http://ethics.house.gov/Media/PDF/2008_House_Ethics_Manual.pdf.
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Earmark Disclosure Rules in the House: Member and Committee Requirements

When submitting earmark requests, it is important to note that individual committees and
subcommittees often have their own additional administrative requirements beyond those
required by House rules (e.g., prioritizing requests or submitting request forms online). The
House Appropriations Committee, for example, has stated that it wil require Members requesting
earmarks to post information regarding their earmark requests on their personal websites. This
information must be posted at the time of the request and must include the purpose of the earmark
and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds.8 Additional y, the House Appropriations
Committee has announced that it wil no longer approve requests for earmarks that are directed to
for-profit entities.9
Committees may also establish relevant policy requirements (e.g., requiring matching funds for
earmark requests) or restrictions regarding earmark requests (e.g., not considering earmark
requests for certain appropriations accounts or disal owing multiyear funding requests). In
addition, committees and subcommittees often have deadlines, especial y for earmark requests in
appropriations legislation. For this reason, it is important to check with individual committees and
subcommittees to learn of any supplemental earmark request requirements or restrictions.10
The committee of jurisdiction is responsible for identifying earmarks in both the legislative text
and any accompanying reports. When it is not clear whether a Member request constitutes an
earmark, the committee of jurisdiction may be able to provide guidance.
When submitting an earmark request, it may be relevant whether the Member wants the earmark
to be included in the text of the bil or the committee report accompanying the bil . Committees
may make an administrative distinction between these two categories in terms of the submission
of earmark requests, and there may be policy implications of an earmark’s placement in either the
bil text or the committee report. For example, under Executive Order 13457,11 issued in January
2008, executive agencies are directed to not commit, obligate, or expend funds that were the
result of an earmark included in non-statutory language, such as a committee report.
Requirements for Committees
Under House rules, earmark disclosure responsibilities of House committees and conference
committees fal into three major categories: (1) determining if a spending provision is an earmark,
(2) compiling earmark requests for presentation to the full chamber, and (3) preserving the
earmark requests. Individual committees may establish their own additional requirements.
Committees of jurisdiction must use their discretion to decide what constitutes an earmark.
Definitions in House rules, as wel as past earmark designations during the 110th Congress, may
provide guidance in determining if a certain provision constitutes an earmark.
House Rule XXIII, clause 17(b), states that in the case of any reported bil or conference report, a
list of included earmarks and their sponsors (or a statement declaring the absence of earmarks)
must be included in the corresponding committee report or joint explanatory statement. In the

8 House and Senate Appropriations Committees, “House and Senate Appropriations Committees Announce Additional
Reforms in Committee Earmark Policy,” press release, January 6, 2009, http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/Obey-
InouyeRelease01-06-09.pdf.
9 House Appropriations Committee, “Appropriations Committees Bans For-Profit Earmarks,” press release, March 10,
2010, http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/2010_Earmark_Reforms_Release-3.10.2010.pdf.
10 Often these requirements are communicated through a “Dear Colleague” letter or through the committee’s website.
11 Executive Order 13457, “Protecting American T axpayers from Governmental Spending on Wasteful Earmarks,” 73
Federal Register 22, January 29, 2008.
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Earmark Disclosure Rules in the House: Member and Committee Requirements

case of a measure not reported by a committee or a manager’s amendment, the committee of
initial referral must cause a list of earmarks and their sponsors, or a letter stating the absence of
earmarks, to be printed in the Congressional Record before floor consideration is in order. The
House Appropriations Committee has stated that it wil make earmark disclosure tables publicly
available the same day that a subcommittee reports its bil .12
A conference report to accompany a regular appropriations bil must identify congressional
earmarks in the conference report or joint explanatory statement that were not specified in the
legislation or report as it initial y passed either chamber.13
Each House committee and conference committee is responsible for “maintaining” al written
requests for earmarks received, even those not ultimately included in the measure or the
measure’s report. Furthermore, those requests that were included in any measure reported by the
committee must be not only “maintained” but also “open for public inspection.” Rule XXIII does
not specify how the information shal be “maintained” and “open for public inspection.”

Author Information

Megan S. Lynch

Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process

Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan
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under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should n ot be relied upon for purposes other
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12 As stated in the January 6, 2009, joint press release.
13 During the 110th Congress, it was the practice to include such earmarks in the list required by Rule XXI, clause 9,
and identify them with asterisks. Note that the Senate defines items related to earmark disclosure somewhat differently .
For more information, see CRS Report RS22867, Earm ark Disclosure Rules in the Senate: Mem ber and Com m ittee
Requirem ents, by Megan S. Lynch.
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RS22866 · VERSION 11 · UPDATED
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