Yellowhammer Times

A U.S. Republican congressman from Texas is inviting pledges from like-minded lawmakers to protest the reintroduction of earmarks in the U.S. House of Representatives.

U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) chided the Republican Party for “embracing” earmarks in a video presented March 17 on a Facebook page managed by staff. House Republicans lifted the decade-long ban of earmarking in a vote on March 17, the Washington Examiner said.

“Earmarks” are parts of a spending bill that allocate money for “a particular project in a specific congressman’s district or a senator’s home state” and is many times used for deal-making and negotiation, ThoughtCo. said.

“Congress imposed a moratorium on earmarks that went into effect in 2011, which banned members from using legislation to direct money to specific projects or organizations in their districts,” ThoughtCo. said. “In 2012 the Senate defeated a proposal to outlaw earmarks but extended the moratorium by a year.”

In voting for the return of earmarks, the Republican Party “abandoned principle,” Roy said.

“They just dove right into the swamp,” Roy said in a video on the staff-managed Facebook page. “That isn’t the leadership that we need. The Republican Party should be ashamed of itself for embracing earmarks when the American people are staring at $30 trillion in debt and business is shut down.”  

On March 17, Roy and 17 other House Republicans issued an open letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that pledged they wouldn’t ask for earmark money, according to Roy’s news release. U.S. Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.), was among signers.

“In their current form, earmarks are nothing more than a corrupt currency Democrats are trying to revive in order to perpetuate logrolling in politics,” Moore said in comments for the Yellowhammer Times. “Supporting legislation shouldn’t be about quid pro quo, it should be about helping our constituents, not scratching each other’s backs for political gain.”

A system employed by the Alabama Legislature could work in Congress, Moore said.

“In the Alabama Legislature, we used the education trust fund in a way that essentially provides each representative with the same amount of money to fund projects in their districts,” Moore said.