Ernst, Fischer introduce bill to permanently axe congressional earmarks

U.S. Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE) and a bipartisan coalition of senators want to ‘stick a fork in congressional pork,’ to coin a phrase from an online ad promoting their latest legislation aimed at terminating earmarks.

The Earmark Elimination Act of 2018, S. 2330, is intended to halt wasteful, deficit-fueling federal spending by preventing the inclusion of any provision in a bill that meets the definition of an earmark, according to senators who introduced S. 2330 on Jan. 23. U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) also helped introduce the legislation.

“Earmarks cannot and should not be part of our legislative process — period,” said Sen. Ernst. “I was sent to Washington to cut wasteful spending and protect taxpayer dollars. This legislation prohibits Congress from reverting back to its reckless behavior and slipping special interest spending into legislation.”

Toward that goal, S. 2330 would make permanent the current earmark ban Congress approved in 2010 forbidding members of Congress from funneling U.S. government tax dollars to pet projects in their home states via provisions added into congressional spending measures.

“I share the belief of Nebraskans that Washington must bring spending under control. A return of earmarks in the legislative process would be a step backwards in our work toward this effort,” said Sen. Fischer. “That’s why I’m proud to help introduce this bipartisan bill to ensure Nebraskans’ hard-earned money is used responsibly and wisely.”

The proposal is timely as the House Rules Committee considers President Donald Trump’s endorsement during a Jan. 9 policy meeting at the White House that Congress “start thinking about going back to a form of earmarks.”

Upon helping to introduce the bill on Tuesday, Portman said, “Instead of debating whether earmarks should be revived, Congress should be pushing to ban earmarks permanently. At a time of record debt, it is more important than ever to eliminate unnecessary pet projects and wasteful spending.”

Specifically, S. 2330, among other provisions, would create a point of order against any legislative provision meeting the definition of an earmark. A spending earmark is defined in the bill as language added at the request of a senator or member of the House of Representatives that would provide, authorize or recommend a specific amount of discretionary budget authority, credit authority, or other spending authority for contracts, loans or grants directed to a particular state, locality or congressional district “other than through a statutory or administrative formula-driven or competitive award process.”

Also introducing S. 2330 were Sens. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Pat Toomey (R-PA), John McCain (R-AZ), Mike Lee (R-UT), Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Marco Rubio (R-FL).

Sen. McCaskill also noted the bipartisan bill’s benefits for her home state, saying the ban on earmarks would “ensure Missourians’ taxpayer dollars are protected from waste, and projects are prioritized on merit.”

“Earmarks are the Washington swamp creature that just never seems to die — emerging from the lower depths every few years in an effort to waste taxpayer dollars on politicians’ pet projects,” McCaskill said.

S. 2330 is awaiting consideration by the Senate Rules and Administration Committee.