Anti-Earmark Actions Put the Spotlight on Pelosi
Rob Bluey /
President Bush’s decision to challenge lawmakers on earmarks comes only days after House Republicans made their own pledge to give up pork projects. At their retreat last Friday in West Virginia, House GOP leaders released a letter calling on Speaker Nancy Pelosi to issue an immediate moratorium on earmarks and to appoint a bipartisan, bicameral joint committee to reform the earmark process and eliminate wasteful spending.
The two moves, while not as aggressive as some conservatives had hoped, refocus attention on an issue that has tarnished the image of Congress and landed appropriators in hot water. This year alone at least six appropriators have announced they will not seek re-election. A handful of others are under federal investigation.
By putting pressure on Pelosi, House Republicans hope to convince the speaker to bring an immediate halt to the earmarking process. Based on some of Pelosi’s previous statements about earmarking, it might not be entirely out of the question. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Pelosi led the way in giving up earmarks. The Heritage Foundation’s Andrew Grossman and Ron Utt wrote at the time:
It is often said that politics makes strange bedfellows, but apparently hurricanes have far stranger effects. On Tuesday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announced that she would offer up $70 million, out of the $129 million in highway bill earmarks that she won for her district, to offset the cost of the Katrina relief effort.