Phoning in Earmarks
With the strong earmark reform rules having passed both the Senate and the House, members of Congress are now concerned about how to get their pork projects funded. In the past, members would just hide the pork in committee reports. Since that is no longer an option, the method du jour is "phoning it in". Supposedly, members call up the respective federal agencies and direct them to spend money in their districts. (Having the power of the purse, you can imagine the strong arm tactics that might be employed by some of the members.)
Thanks to President Bush, and the continued, unrelenting efforts of Senators Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn, the agencies can now "hang up" on the members.
A press release by DeMint's office relays the good news.
Bush Shuts Down Congressional Favor Factory
Completes Earmark Moratorium for 2007
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) praised President Bush Thursday for directing the agencies in his administration to give no preference to secret earmark requests made by members of Congress.
In a memorandum released today, the President’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said “agencies should not obligate funds on the basis of earmarks contained in Congressional reports or documents, or other written or oral communications regarding earmarks.”
“The President handed American taxpayers a huge victory today by stopping all of the backdoor earmarks Congress requests hidden in reports and through secret emails and phone calls,” said Senator DeMint. “Government agencies now have clear instructions to ignore these congressional earmarks which do not have the force of law. Federal agencies can now use these funds to advance their core missions and serve true national priorities. Without this guidance from the President, thousands of wasteful earmarks worth billions of dollars could have continued even though they were never actually written in our bills or signed into law.”
According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), over ninety-five percent of all congressional earmarks are never written into spending bills, but are added to committee reports that do not carry the force of law.
“For too long, Washington has handed out American tax dollars based on seniority and political jockeying,” said DeMint. “This year, these funds will be given out based on merit. This is an important accomplishment that begins to level the playing field so that each state and every community can compete for federal funding in an open, fair, and accountable way.”
After the 2006 congressional elections, Senator DeMint successfully stopped over 10,000 wasteful earmarks from being enacted as part of a last-minute, year-end omnibus spending bill. In January, Democratic Leader Harry Reid joined DeMint in agreeing to keep all earmark requests out of the Fiscal Year 2007 spending bill. In March of 2006, Senator DeMint and four of his Senate colleagues sent a bipartisan letter to the President urging him to ignore all earmarks that do not have the force of law. Today, the President's memorandum did just that.
“Congress has closed the front door on earmarks and the President has shut the back door,” said DeMint. “Now Americans will get a timeout on earmarks for the rest of the year.”
Senator Coburn's office released this statement:
Dr. Coburn Commends President Bush’s Bold Move Against Pork-Barrel Spending
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) released the following statement today regarding a memorandum from the President’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that says “agencies should not obligate funds on the basis of earmarks contained in Congressional reports or documents, or other written or oral communications regarding earmarks.”
“For the past twenty years earmarks have been the gateway drug to spending addiction in Congress. I applaud President Bush for helping members of Congress to ‘just say no’ to earmarks. The President’s bold move will help eliminate thousands of earmarks Congress voted to continue this week,” Dr. Coburn said.
“I also applaud the army of concerned citizens and bloggers who, through the force of persistence and plain common sense, have forced the political establishment to do a 180-degree turn on earmarks. I look forward to working with these concerned citizens to ensure that Congress overcomes its dependence on earmarks,” Dr. Coburn said.
Congressman Jeff Flake, who has been a one-man army against pork projects in the House, had this to say:
Congressman Flake Applauds Bush Administration for Instructing Federal Agencies to Ignore Earmarks Move Will Prevent Back Door Earmarks in CR
Washington, D.C. – Republican Congressman Jeff Flake, who represents Arizona’s Sixth District, today applauded the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Rob Portman, for a memo he issued regarding earmarks.
In the memo, OMB Director Portman instructs federal departments and agencies to refrain from using funds provided in the continuing resolution (CR) for earmarks that have not been included in statutory language.
The move will prevent the vast majority of fiscal year 2006 earmarks from continuing to receive funding under the CR. It also prevents earmarks from the stalled fiscal year 2007 appropriations cycle from receiving funding.
“In one fell swoop, President Bush has done more to eliminate earmarks than any of the earmark reform bills passed in Congress over the last year,” said Flake.
“In the interest of transparency and accountability, President Bush needs to make this earmark policy permanent and vow to veto any spending bill that contains unauthorized earmarks.”
Congressman Flake has introduced legislation (H.R. 631) that would require that earmarks be included in the legislative text of bills. This would subject earmarks to increased levels of scrutiny and accountability.
