WASHINGTON — Potential changes in control of one or both chambers in the midterm elections could put the practice of earmarking federal funds for local projects on the chopping block in the next Congress.
The last time Republicans recaptured the House, after the 2010 midterms, party leaders banned earmarks amid the anti-spending, tea party-fueled sentiment of the time.
“Earmarks are a symbol of a broken Washington and emblematic of the culture of spending that has dominated Washington for far too long and must be reversed,” then-House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., said prior to that year’s elections.
