Senate votes down earmarks bans

The Senate on Tuesday voted against imposing a two-year ban on earmarks, the funding for “pork barrel” projects that make politicians popular in their home states but which fiscal conservatives label an example of wasteful spending.

Lawmakers backed by the conservative Tea Party movement have been pushing for a moratorium on legislative earmarks and succeeded last month in getting the newly expanded Republican caucus in the Senate to vote in favour of such a ban.

But a vote in the full upper chamber – actually to end debate on another matter so that the earmark ban could be considered – failed on Tuesday, being defeated by 56 to 39, well short of the two-thirds majority of 67 votes needed. The failure of the “cloture” vote effectively signals the defeat of the earmark ban.

The bipartisan proposal would have barred any legislation containing provisions “included primarily at the request of a senator or member of the House of Representatives ... targeted to a specific state, locality or Congressional district”.

The measure was offered by Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, and Democrats Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Mark Udall of Colorado.

In an internal ballot last month, Senate Republicans voted for a voluntary ban on earmarks, but eight Republicans on Tuesday voted against the proposal that would have enforced the ban.

They included Thad Cochrane of Mississippi, who has requested more earmarks than any other senator, with 243 earmarks totalling $498m, mainly for defence-related projects, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Only seven Democrats voted in favour, but Mr Udall vowed to continue pushing for the ban.

“When it comes to budgeting, earmarks are a frustrating – and ultimately dangerous – example of the tail wagging the dog,” he said. “Too many lawmakers are so focused on protecting their earmarks, they turn a blind eye to excessive spending bills.”

Earmarks, the congressional provisions that lawmakers use to direct federal funding to pet projects in their districts, make up less than 1 per cent of federal spending.

Still, the incoming group of Tea Party-backed senators, all fiscal conservatives who were elected on a pledge to rein in government spending and stop the deficit from ballooning further, have been pushing for a ban.

President Barack Obama has also called on Congress to address the issue, saying there should be new limitations on earmarks.

“Some of these earmarks support worthy projects in our local communities. But many others do not. We can’t afford bridges to nowhere like the one that was planned a few years back in Alaska,” he said last month.

The $398m Gravina Island Bridge project was supposed to connect the island to a town of 50 people, replacing a ferry service, but was cancelled after it became one of the most notorious earmark projects.

“Earmarks like these represent a relatively small part of overall federal spending. But when it comes to signalling our commitment to fiscal responsibility, addressing them would have an important impact,” Mr Obama said.