, Columnist
Congress Needs to Bring Back Earmarks
A handout here or there would help end partisan gridlock.
This article is for subscribers only.
Congressional “earmarks” may be coming back, with the House Rules Committee set to convene hearings this month, possibly to reverse a (complicated) 2010 ban on the federal spending perks directed to local projects. President Donald Trump seems to be on board, telling a group of lawmakers at the White House on Tuesday: “You should do it.”
One person’s pork-barrel spending is another’s public good, but think of earmarks as local benefits inserted into bills to buy more votes in Congress. That sounds bad, but in a fraught, polarized time it could be exactly what the U.S. government needs.