Has Congress lost control of the purse by delegating authority to agencies to self-fund theiractivities with fees, fines, and penalties? To answer this question, this paper first begins by reviewing the constitutional provisions andstatutory provisions that required funds collected to be deposited in the Treasury andreappropriated. The paper then tries to clarify the extent to […]
Reviving earmarks the right way: Some ad...
The Democratic leadership in Congress is currently making fast moves toward reimplementing earmarks after a 10-year moratorium. This is a very positive development to re-empower legislators to direct needed federal resources to local and regional needs. As we’ve written in our recent AEI report, the earmark moratorium failed: It did not reduce discretionary spending, it […]
Democrats ditch 10-year-old earmark free...
It is official: Earmarks are returning to Congress. The House Appropriations Committee will sooCon unveil the new process by which individual legislators can direct spending to projects in their home districts. Both parties swore off earmarking a decade ago after each had members get caught in scandals, some going so far as to barter earmarks […]
The return of earmarks: A Q&A on what’s
Various reports indicate that congressional Democrats intend to bring back earmarks. Politico quoted Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) as saying they will return, and that House Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro “is working through the details of a reformed process.” This news is not a bolt out of the blue. Last week, an AEI report by Professor […]
Restoring the power of the purse: Earmar...
However well-intentioned, the earmark moratorium has had real shortcomings. As various observershave noted, forbidding earmarks has shifted spending authority to the executive branch agencies, which are not directly accountable to the public. The moratorium also has not reduced federal spending, as some advocates anticipated. Troublingly, the earmark moratorium encouraged legislators to attempt to direct spending […]
Might Congress enact a compromise to end...
For the past several years, there have been murmurings on Capitol Hill about possibly bringing back earmarks. Now it appears possible that the scandal-tainted earmarks of old may never come back. This week, a congressional committee advocated establishing a “community-focused grant program.” It would authorize up to 1 percent of discretionary spending to be directed […]