Senate and House Republicans took two different approaches this week on banning earmarks. While Senate Republicans passed a nonbinding resolution to not request earmarks, House Republicans approved a rule change that would ban the insertion of earmarks in legislation for the 112th Congress. Under the new rules passed by House leaders, Democrats must also adhere to the ban.
There is a great amount of uncertainty regarding what this will ultimately mean for important appropriations and authorization bills, such as the Highway Reauthorization or Water Resources Development Act as these bills heavily rely on specific project authorizations to determine critical needs and funding levels. Also unclear is the extent of the ban. While Democrats must comply with the House ban, Senate Democrats are still in control and have not agreed to the ban supported by Senate Republicans. In addition, it is not clear whether the House would refuse to approve legislation passed by the Senate containing earmarks.
AGC is closely monitoring this issue and will keep members apprised of developments.
For more information, please contact Marco Giamberardino at (703) 837-5325 or giamberm@agc.org.
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