Sponsors (2)
The bill tightens earmark rules and transparency while preserving narrow targeted tax/tariff exceptions, trading greater oversight of pet projects for reduced flexibility to direct funds to specific local beneficiaries and creating potential loopholes and procedural friction.
Members of Congress, their staff, and the public get clearer rules and reporting requirements for identifying earmarks, increasing transparency around targeted spending requests.
Taxpayers face fewer earmarks/pet-project insertions into legislation, reducing opportunities for wasteful or narrowly targeted spending.
House floor procedure gains a clearer point-of-order pathway that can speed resolution of disputes over offending provisions.
Local governments and communities may lose access to targeted federal spending or tax/tariff relief because the bill limits Congress's ability to insert constituency-specific measures.
By excluding formula-driven or competitive awards from the earmark definition, some directed spending could escape earmark transparency rules, reducing public visibility into certain targeted funds.
Narrow definitions (e.g., 10-or-fewer beneficiaries) allow small, targeted tax or tariff breaks to bypass broader oversight, reducing perceived fairness among taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Introduced January 13, 2026 by Ralph Norman · Last progress January 13, 2026
Prohibits the House of Representatives from considering any measure (bills, amendments, conference reports, etc.) that contains a congressional earmark, a limited tax benefit, or a limited tariff benefit. Establishes an enforceable point-of-order procedure that strikes offending provisions, sets special handling for conference-related motions, and requires immediate, non-debatable House votes when the Chair cannot determine applicability. Defines key terms used to enforce the ban: what counts as a "congressional earmark," a "limited tax benefit," and a "limited tariff benefit," and removes an existing clause from House rules to conform to the new prohibition.