House Republicans showed off a divide on earmarks Wednesday in the wake of President Trump raising the possibility of reinstating the process of congressionally directed spending after a seven year hiatus.
At a House Rules Committee hearing, a cadre of House Republicans spoke out in favor of reintroducing the earmarks, especially as chatter rises about the possibility of a long-discussed infrastructure bill. Proponents of earmark reintroduction argued the corruption described by detractors was vastly overstated and that the executive branch and bureaucrats should not have control over funds that should have remained in congressional hands.
“Until this is solved, we are no longer the Congress of the people. We are just people. We cannot represent our people,” said Rep. Don Young, the Dean of the House, a long-time supporter of the earmark process. Most notably, he and the late Sen. Ted Stevens supported the infamous “bridge to nowhere” that received national attention during the 2008 election.
“What are we here for if we can’t represent the people that vote for us,” Young said. “I love this House, and I don’t want any executive, regardless of what president, to be running the House and that’s what occurring now.”
Young also responded to conservative claims that the earmarks would add to the national debt, calling the argument “horse manure.”
The issue came back to the forefront during a meeting at the White House last week when Trump floated the idea of reintroducing the practice in order to help the budget process. At least one lawmaker believes Trump’s call to “drain the swamp” should include the reintroduction of earmarks to reduce the influence of unelected bureaucrats.
“If the ‘drain the swamp’ election meant anything, it was that the people in Washington D.C. that are unaccountable, faceless, nameless bureaucrats that don’t have to stand before the people every two years get to decide how to spend our taxpayer dollars,” said Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla. “That is the swamp. That is the so-called deep state.”
However, conservatives believe reinstating the earmark process could lead to the demise of the House-led GOP.
Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., the chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), said Republicans did well to implement their agenda in 2017 and the earmark process would be an unnecessary change to how business is conducted on Capitol Hill.
“I hope Republicans can continue this momentum and not give ourselves self-inflicted injuries,” Walker said. “Yet, I fear we might be doing that just by bringing the practice of the old, un-reformed earmarks.”
“I believe that would be a colossal mistake,” he added.
As for Democrats, those present unanimously endorsed bringing back earmarks. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., called for it to happen “as soon as possible.”
