By House Republicans moved this week to strip a roughly $1 million earmark sought by Ilhan Omar from a major government funding package, citing political risk to a sprawling appropriations deal as leaders worked to avert a potential shutdown.
The provision had been included in a three-bill “minibus” covering Commerce-Justice-Science, Energy-Water, and Interior-Environment. Omar’s request directed funding to Generation Hope’s Justice Empowerment Initiative, a program offering job training, computer skills, peer support, education access, addiction recovery, and mental health services for justice-involved individuals in Minneapolis’s East African community, according to The Daily Caller.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole said leadership determined the earmark posed an unacceptable threat to the broader legislation. “I can’t afford to have a million dollar project jeopardize a $184 billion package of bills,” Cole said Wednesday. “If we have an individual project that can pose a political problem, I’ve had these in the past from our side before, where we had to tell a member, ‘look, there might be a way to do this, but our advice to you is to withdraw this.’”
Originally requested at more than $1.4 million, the earmark was included at approximately $1.03 million before drawing scrutiny amid ongoing federal investigations into alleged fraud involving Minnesota’s Somali community. Conservative lawmakers targeted the provision as emblematic of what they describe as wasteful spending.
“It’s ridiculous to buy votes in the currency of corruption in this town,” Chip Roy told reporters Wednesday. The Texas Congressman later posted a Tweet showing that he stopped Omar’s giveaway.
BREAKING: Chalk one up for the good guys. Proud to work the last two days to stop the outrageous Ilhan Omar $1 million Somali earmark. Much more to do. pic.twitter.com/OulVc7zcim
— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) January 7, 2026
Rules Committee member Ralph Norman said he would back the bill only after confirmation the earmark had been removed, referring to it as the “Somali million dollars.”
Democrats acknowledged the dispute but signaled a familiar path to resolution. Ranking Appropriations Committee member Rosa DeLauro said problematic community projects are sometimes resolved by removal. “It is under discussion and it will be resolved. That’s the way things go with these community projects. If there’s a difficulty, if there’s a problem, we try to work it out. Or it comes out,” DeLauro told Politico on Wednesday.
To secure passage, leadership agreed to procedural changes, including separate votes on the minibus components and adjustments to accompanying report language that effectively stripped the earmark without altering the bill text.
Founded in 2019, Generation Hope describes itself as a Somali-led organization partnering with treatment centers to deliver culturally responsive services for East African individuals. Omar’s request had bipartisan support within Minnesota, including from Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith.
The Somali community in Minnesota has been accused of stealing billions of government funding by committing various forms of fraud, including creating fake daycares. Congressman Brandon Gill recently did a deep dive into Somali refugees after the scandal broke:
Somalis didn’t come here to live the American dream.
They came to extract as much taxpayer-funded welfare as possible. pic.twitter.com/qqNosj9451
— Congressman Brandon Gill (@RepBrandonGill) December 31, 2025
The White House said senior advisers would recommend the president sign the package in its current form. The House advanced the minibus on a narrow procedural vote Wednesday, setting up final consideration ahead of the January 30 deadline to fund agencies through the fiscal year and continue work on remaining appropriations bills.
[Read More: RFK Changes The American Diet]
