After winning back the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018, congressional Democrats vowed to bring back earmarks, but that appears to now be dashed by the Senate Republican Conference.
Republicans in the senate voted 28-12 to permanently ban earmarks in both chambers of Congress because any earmark coming up in the House would be shot down in the Senate.
The move to permanently ban earmarks was spearheaded by Sen. Ben Sasse and Sen. Ted Cruz.
“Today, Republicans have taken an important step in restoring fiscal sanity by adopting a permanent earmark ban. The earmark ban was one of the most significant far-reaching conservative victories for reining in out-of-control spending, and it expired at the beginning of the 116th Congress.
I was proud to lead the effort with Sen. Sasse to restore the earmark ban, and am gratified that my colleagues supported our effort today,” Sen. Cruz said. “With the adoption of this amendment, earmarks are now permanently banned in our Conference Rules. That is a positive step for our long-term fiscal health, and I will continue to fight for fiscal responsibility and curbing our staggering $22 trillion national debt.”
Democrats will continue to press for earmarks, but will have to win control of the Senate, let alone retain control of the House, for earmarks to see the light of day.
“Mr. Hoyer will continue to have conversations with leaders from both parties and chambers to find a path forward to restore earmarks with reforms to ensure transparency and accountability,” his spokeswoman told Politico in March.(DC)
