Federal funding allocations secured primarily or entirely for a particular lawmaker’s district are referred to as earmarks. They were banned in 2010, following a series of corruption scandals.

In 2021, Democrats in Congress ended the moratorium on earmarks. Since then, New Jersey’s 12 U.S. representatives and two U.S. senators were able to designate $838 million for projects in the state as part of the earmarks process. NJ Spotlight News reviewed records from three federal budget cycles to determine that total.