House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., sidestepped a fight with outside conservative groups and fiscal hawks and avoided public backlash Wednesday when he resisted calls from some within his conference to bring back earmarks, those pet projects slipped into spending bills that can sweeten the pot for legislators and help get bills passed.

But many Republicans admitted Wednesday was just about process and timing, and were confident that earmarks, which some call “directed congressional spending,” will come back in some form.