GOP seeking some unity

A special task force will present to Senate Republicans Thursday several recommendations for reforming the practice of earmarking, a step toward bringing the Senate rules into greater harmony with the House.

Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the five-member task force, is expected to present the proposals to a group of Republicans who meet regularly on Thursdays.

{mosads}The ad hoc committee has three main proposals, according to a senator familiar with the findings: Senators should disclose the requests they receive for all approved earmarks; committees should make available for review data on all earmarks included in a bill 48 hours prior to floor consideration; and all earmarks in appropriations, authorization and tax bills should be included in the bill text so that they are subject to amendment.

But the task force cast aside almost a dozen changes favored by proponents of more stringent earmark reform. For example, it rejected the call to prohibit earmarks that target funds to a specific company — earmarks that critics compare to no-bid contracts.

The panel also declined to call for sanctions against lawmakers facing federal indictment. Some lawmakers say that colleagues under indictment should be required to give up their committee assignments temporarily.

This could affect lawmakers such as Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), whose home was raided by federal agents last year.

Republican leaders hope that the entire GOP conference comes around to supporting the proposed reform.

After creating unity within the party, Republican leaders can then pressure Democrats to adopt stricter rules for earmarks.

Without Democratic support, however, reforms such as requiring earmarks to be included in legislative text would not go forward.

Even if Democrats oppose the reforms, Republican senators could still post on their websites the earmark requests they receive. Stevens has posted earmarks requested by constituents on his website. But it is unclear how many Republicans would follow suit if Democratic colleagues failed to do the same. Publicizing earmark requests can lead to critical news coverage or political attacks if it becomes known that those who have requested legislative favors have made political donations to a politician.

By calling for lawmakers to make earmark requests public and reveal the earmarks attached to bills before floor consideration, the task force has suggested reforms that would bring the Senate’s disclosure rules into alignment with the House’s.

An early version of earmark reform senators considered last year had required disclosure of earmark requests, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) cut it out when he re-worked the package.

The proposal to include earmarks in the text of legislation would allow critics to introduce amendments to strip bills of controversial projects during floor debate. Many projects are difficult to oppose on the floor because they are inserted into reports accompanying legislation and thus not subject to amendment.

Sometimes the reports do not become public until after the bill passes the chamber, said one Republican critic of the appropriations process.

Extending earmark reform to authorization bills would close what developed into a major loophole last year. Reid surprised conservative opponents when he won a ruling from the Senate parliamentarian that projects could be inserted into authorization bills during Senate-House negotiations. Opponents had believed earmark rules should have banned projects added at the eleventh hour to the Water Resources Development Act of 2007.

The task force also cast aside a proposed freeze of earmarks. Senate insiders had suspected that Lugar and his colleagues would not back an earmark moratorium, and its fate became sealed when the Senate overwhelming rejected it last month. The Senate voted 71-29 against an amendment backed by Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) that would have frozen all earmarks for 2009.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) appointed Lugar and Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) to the task force in January. He instructed them to report only those proposals on which they could all agree, giving proponents of strong reform little hope because of the members’ widely ranging views.

Coburn, one of the most outspoken Senate critics of earmarks, requested no earmarks last year. Cochran, by contrast, is the senior Republican on Appropriations and last year secured more than $800 million in projects.

But on Wednesday, one source who had spoken to Coburn said the conservative lawmaker was happy with the task force’s recommendations. Critics of earmarks said that the requirement to include projects in the legislative text of appropriations, authorization and tax bills could be just as effective as imposing a moratorium. It would give opponents much more leverage to defeat controversial projects and make it significantly more difficult for appropriators to revive them later during closed-door negotiations.

If Republicans rally behind the proposals, they will put greater pressure on Democratic leaders to adopt reforms, potentially sowing divisions in the Democratic Conference.

This is what has happened in the House. Steady Republican criticism spurred Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to seriously consider freezing earmarks. But that proposal has sparked strong opposition from other Democrats, including Rep. John Murtha (Pa.), one of Pelosi’s most powerful allies.