Citizens Against Government Waste Releases 2024 Congressional Pig Book

Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) released its 2024 Congressional Pig Book, the 32nd edition of the group’s exposé on pork-barrel spending.

CAGW President Tom Schatz was joined in a live press conference at the Phoenix Park Hotel in Washington, D.C., by Reps. Bob Good (R-Va.), Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.), Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.).

2024 Congressional Pig Book facts:

• The 2024 Congressional Pig Book exposes $22.7 billion in earmarks in fiscal year (FY) 2024, the fifth highest total since CAGW released the first Pig Book in 1991.
• The 2011 earmark moratorium was overturned, giving taxpayers more information about which members of Congress are bringing home the bacon.
• Since 1991, CAGW has identified 132,434 earmarks costing $460.3 billion.

Earmarks and Oinkers:

• Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) received “The Whole Hog Award” for 231 earmarks costing $575,580,000, by far the highest amount of any member of Congress.
• Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) received “The House of Pork Award” for 13 earmarks costing $270,330,940, the most in the House of Representatives.
• Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) received “The You Cannot be Serious Award” for $1,750,000 for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, which held net assets of $5 billion in 2023.
• Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) received “The Crabby Pork Award” for $4,000,000 for the Alaska King Crab Enhancement Project.
• Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) received “The We’re Going to Need a Bigger Boat Award” for $190,000 for a shark repellant study at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, which had an operating budget of $36 million in 2023.

CAGW President Tom Schatz said in a statement:

“Earmarks continue to be the most corrupt, costly, and inequitable practice in the history of Congress. More than 99 percent of Democrats got earmarks compared to 62 percent of Republicans, and only three of the top 40 porkers were from the House of Representatives. The top five members, equal to 0.93 percent of Congress, got $2 billion, equal to 10.7 percent of the total cost of earmarks. The 90 members of the House and Senate appropriations committees, equal to 17 percent of Congress, got 42.2 percent of the earmarks and 35.2 percent of the money, proving once again that they go disproportionately to those who sit on powerful committees. The 2024 Congressional Pig Book is a must read for taxpayers and shows why earmarks should be permanently banned.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.

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