Mitch McConnell Changes Course, Moves to Ban Earmarks

Sen. Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate and a longtime member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced Monday that he will support a ban on earmarks, or pork barrel projects, in the 112th Congress.

McConnell has long defended the practice, in which a member of Congress sends federal money to a specific project, as the legislative branch's constitutional right to direct constituents' tax dollars toward relevant projects. But McConnell reversed course Monday under pressure from tea party activists and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who announced that he had enough votes in the GOP caucus to pass a resolution banning the practice among Senate Republicans, even over McConnell's objections.

"Make no mistake, I know the good that has come from the projects I have helped support throughout my state," McConnell said Monday in the Senate. "I'm not wild about turning over more spending authority to the executive branch."

But the GOP leader explained that voters across the country see earmarks as a symptom of the spending abuses in Washington that must be stopped.

"There is simply no doubt that the abuse of this practice has caused Americans to view it as a symbol of the waste and out-of-control spending that every Republican in Washington is determined to fight," he said.

McConnell's announcement does not guarantee that the practice of earmarking will disappear just yet. Although the House Republican leadership has also called for a moratorium on earmarks, Democrats in the House and Senate have not.

On Saturday, President Barack Obama used his weekly address on Saturday to challenge Democrats and Republicans to ban wasteful earmarks, but did not specify whether he would want to ban all earmarks.

"Some of these earmarks support worthy projects in our local communities," Obama said. "But many others do not. When it comes to signaling our commitment to fiscal responsibility, addressing them would have an important impact."

McConnell said Monday that with Republicans clear on their commitment to cut spending, attention will turn to Obama. "If the president ends up with total discretion over spending, we will see even more clearly where his priorities lie," McConnell said.

Senate Republicans will vote on the earmark ban Tuesday.