The unusual GOP alliance pushing earmarks in this fall's funding fight

Politico

6 hours ago

Conversations around government funding are ongoing. But so far, signs point to earmarks being one of the most viable pathways for breaking the impasse. It's a sweetener leaders can use to satisfy holdouts who want to be able to deliver wins for their districts — and represents a compromise for hard-liners like Harris who think this arrangement might present the best possible outcome for members who want to spend as little money as possible.
Harris, who is also chair of the appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Department of Agriculture and FDA, has floated the year-long, flat-funded spending bill that contains earmarks — but paired with the guarantee that Congress will also pass several more rescissions packages to claw back funds already appropriated by Congress.
He also wants the White House to send over a major package of pocket rescissions that would unilaterally cancel tens of billions of dollars. Unlike with a typical rescissions bill, where Congress has 45 days to pass it before the administration is forced to spend the money as lawmakers originally intended, a pocket rescissions measure is transmitted to Capitol Hill with 45 or fewer days left until the end of the current fiscal year — and if Congress doesn't take any action by that deadline, the money is considered revoked.
There's no certainty Congress can even pass a second rescissions request, while legal experts and the federal government's top watchdog have questioned the legality of the pocket rescissions process. But the pitch could be appealing to even the likes of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who is chair of a House Oversight subcommittee tasked with identifying government waste. She said in a social media post earlier this month she was uninterested in 'another CR that will leave out much needed appropriation requests that benefit our districts.'
'Funding to support critical infrastructure projects like water, roads, and community projects will AGAIN be left not funded,' she said of a government spending bill without earmarks.
Greene's position signals a critical opening for proponents of earmarks — and something of a change of tune for Republicans.