Senate GOP earmark plan hits hurdles quickly

A long-awaited Republican plan to overhaul the earmarking practice appears to have a slim chance of winning Senate approval, after powerful Democrats criticized the plan and Republicans hinted they would not adopt it unilaterally.

Democrats said the two-page report amounted to little more than an election-year strategy to shield the GOP from complaints from its base that it was not doing enough to cut down on pet projects. Republicans said the recommendations would shine more light on the practice, but suggested that if Democrats do not go along with the plan, they might not adopt it as a conference-wide position.

{mosads}“The Republican leadership effort to demonize earmarks is an election-year charade,” said Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), the chairman of the Appropriations Committee. “It is an effort to distract the American people from the horrendous deficits that their failed policies have produced.”

After a lengthy statement excoriating the plan, he said he would “carefully review” the recommendations and take them “under advisement.”

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), said Congress has already approved “the most sweeping earmark reform in history” in the ethics legislation enacted last summer.

“Democrats agree that there should be more transparency and accountability in this process, which is exactly why we did it a few months ago after years of inaction by Republican-led Congresses,” Manley said. “And on top of that, we cut last year’s earmarks almost in half from the previous year.”

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), a staunch foe of earmarks who sat on the task force, shot back against the Democratic criticisms.

“I think it’s unfortunate – when Tom Coburn and Thad Cochran can agree on something that means anything can be agreed on,” said Coburn, referring to the Mississippi senator, who was the top earmarker in Congress last year as ranking Republican on the Appropriations Committee.

“You’ve not heard the end of this, and the American public is with us on this,” Coburn said.

To resolve an issue that has badly divided his conference, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) convened a five-member working group in January to provide unanimous recommendations on how to overhaul the practice of inserting pet projects into spending bills. The task force consisted of four members who request millions of dollars for projects back home, and Coburn, who requests none.

With the task force’s work now complete, McConnell said he would first meet with Reid to discuss making the plan a Senate rule, but would not say whether his conference would adopt the plan if Democrats do not want to go along.

“It will be up to each senator to make that decision [of adopting the proposal],” McConnell said. “Obviously we don’t have a dictatorship.”

The group’s report, released Thursday, says that all amendments striking earmarks should result in savings to the national debt; all earmarks in tax, appropriations and authorization bills should be placed in bill text rather than just the accompanying report language; 48 hours prior to floor consideration, information and justification about all pet projects should be disclosed on a senator’s website; and all earmarks sought by the Executive Branch should be justified in detail.

The issue has divided both parties, particularly Republicans. Fiscal conservatives and their presumptive presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), say the ballooning practice of wasteful earmarks cost Republicans control of Congress in 2006. Senior Republicans, including Cochran and McConnell, argue that it is the constitutional responsibility of Congress to control the purse of the federal government and set funding priorities across the country.

While Coburn said he was satisfied with the report’s recommendations, some Senate Republican critics of earmarks privately called the plan weak since it fell short of seeking an end or temporary halt to a practice that has been the source of corruption. The conservative Club for Growth called the proposal “a step forward” but said it does not go far enough.

“These proposals are certainly a step in the right direction, but true earmark reform will require bold steps,” said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey.  “Transparency will promote accountability and help eliminate corruption, but does little to reduce the actual number of taxpayer dollars spent on mule and packers museums each year.”

Don Stewart, a spokesman for McConnell, said the election season should not impact the need to enact reforms to the practice.

“We hope this will be a bipartisan effort to accomplish these goals that surely we all share — regardless of the season,” Stewart said.