House Democrats Attempt to Bring Back Congressional Earmarks

House Democrats have moved to restart the use of earmarks in an effort to prevent Congressional gridlock and pass legislation more effectively. This move would alter how Congress allocates $1.4 trillion in discretionary funding. Earmarks allow members of Congress to itemize funds in appropriations packages for specific programs and projects in their district. Earmarks have been banned since 2011.

The Senate has not yet announced whether they will be bringing back earmarks, and Republicans in both the House and Senate have yet to decide on the issue.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said of the move, “We are in good faith negotiations with the House and my Senate colleagues to bring back congressionally directed spending in a transparent and responsible way, and those discussions are ongoing. I believe there is bipartisan support to restore the power of the purse to Congress and I am continuing to work toward that goal.”

House Democrats’ earmarks plan caps the total amount of money that can be spent on earmarks at 1 percent of the total discretionary funding spending. Members will only be allowed to make ten earmark requests during each fiscal year, although they are not guaranteed to be included in the appropriations bills. Members are also required to publish their requests online at the same time they submit their proposal to the Appropriations Committee.

Members making requests will have to be transparent and justify how the earmark would help their community. They must also guarantee that no one from their immediate family will benefit from earmarks. While Republicans first supported the ban on earmarks in 2010, and many still do, some Republicans are warming up to the idea of their return.

Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) said of earmarks, “Earmarks never really went away. They just moved from Congress to the administration, I think, with less scrutiny and transparency.”

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) stated, “I’ve talked to a lot of Republicans, who I expect are going to be requesting earmarks for their districts.” On the contrary, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) stated, “I represent the entire conference and I can tell you the overwhelming majority of the Republican conference in the Senate is not in favor of going back to earmarks.”