The Republican president-elect promised to take back Washington, D.C., from lobbyists, entrenched special interests and the elites. He didn’t suggest rolling back the ban on congressional earmarks.
On their own personal initiative, though, three House Republicans have drafted an amendment to the Republican House rules package that would make earmarks great again. For a party trying to capitalize on a reform mandate, that’s not a winning initiative. And it’s also nearly a political impossibility.
Reps. John Culberson of Texas, Mike Rogers of Alabama, and Tom Rooney of Florida are listed as sponsors on the amendment, the Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal reported on Tuesday. A mob of conservative groups opposed it in response.
Synonymous with wasteful spending and sweetheart deals, earmarks are loathed among conservative members with a Tea Party bent. And that negative initiative was enough to defeat a 2014 push to end the earmark embargo.
The earmark trio has remained silent since news of their push broke. But Rogers justified it at the time by arguing that earmarks gave Republicans more control over tax dollars. He told the Daily Caller that earmarks would allow Congress “to reassert its Constitutional authority over the Obama Administration.”
The Republican conference will vote by secret ballot on whether to bring back earmarks tomorrow. But the initiative is already facing an uphill battle and will meet opposition from both GOP brass and conservative factions.
Fiscal hawks in the Freedom Caucus and Republican Study Committee vehemently oppose the carve outs. And many of the same members rallied to House Speaker John Boehner in 2011 when he passed the first ever ban in 2011. They’ll be prepared to take up the call tomorrow.
Tinkering with the earmark brand would also be politically disastrous for House Speaker Paul Ryan. When he picked up the speaker’s gavel last December, he promised to “make sure that legacy continues.” Regardless of how the conference votes, Ryan will own their decision by default.
Though Ryan fended off a coup attempt from his right flank on Tuesday, he has to stand for re-election again in January when the next Congress convenes. It probably won’t go well for him if he lets earmark reform move forward.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
