by Jackie Kucinich
Roll Call
3/11/2010
House Republicans agreed to a self-imposed, across-the-board earmark ban during a special closed-door meeting of the Conference on Thursday morning.
The ban was approved by voice vote, according to GOP attendees, and will affect all earmarks, including those that are tariff- and tax-related.
At a press conference following the meeting, Republican leaders said the decision shows the level of GOP commitment to fiscal responsibility.
“We are not going to get to a cleaned up process before we break from the past,” Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters. “I believe that this earmark ban that our members have agreed to today is a big step in the right direction.”
It is unclear how the Republican moratorium will affect huge various authorizing bills, including a bipartisan transportation authorization bill that is traditionally packed with thousands of earmarks from both sides of the aisle.
The article continues at Roll Call.
