{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/paul-ryan-blocks-effort-to-partially-restore-earmarks", "Paul Ryan Blocks Effort to Partially Restore Earmarks", "2016-11-16", "2016", "2016-11", "Democrat", "House", "MO", "Claire McCaskill", "M001170", "www.mccaskill.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Paul Ryan Blocks Effort to Partially Restore Earmarks \r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                Wednesday, November 16, 2016\r\n            \r\n            \n\t\n\r\n            \r\n            \r\n                  \r\n                    By:\u00a0\r\n                    Jon Reid and Eli Yokley\r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                \r\n                \r\n                \r\n            House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday blocked efforts to water down the ban on earmarks during a conference meeting to establish rules for the next Congress.\r\nA source in the room said the conference was set to adopt two amendments that would partially alleviate the standing ban on \u201cpet projects\u201d when Ryan (R-Wis.) intervened, forcing the lead sponsors of the provisions \u2014 Reps. Tom Rooney of Florida and John Culberson of Texas \u2014 to withdraw their amendments.\r\nRyan told the two lawmakers they would be able to bring their amendments to the House floor early next year, and that considering them in a closed-door meeting after a \u201cdrain the swamp\u201d election simply could not happen, an aide said.\r\nRooney\u2019s amendment \u201cwould establish limited exceptions to the earmark moratorium\u201d for water infrastructure projects operated by the Army Corps of Engineers.\r\nA broader amendment, sponsored by Culberson, Mike Rogers of Alabama and Rooney, was the other one withdrawn. It would revive earmarks under limited parameters, bar pet projects that increase federal spending and require earmarks to go through the committee process. The sponsor of a proposed earmark would be made public under that amendment.\r\nSince the moratorium \u2014 driven by then-Speaker John Boehner of Ohio \u2014 was put in place in 2011, some Republicans and Democrats have supported lifting the earmark ban. Republicans argue that the prohibition forfeits Congress\u2019 power of the purse to the executive branch, a view backed by at least one member of the House GOP leadership team.\r\n\u201cThe speaker was very clear: This process was abused for a very long period of time,\u201d Majority Whip Steve Scalise (La.) told reporters as he left the conference meeting. \u201cWe need to reform the entire way that unelected bureaucrats control taxpayer dollars.\u201d\r\n\u201cIf we think that there\u2019s no influence being used in the executive branch about where this money goes and what\u2019s being done \u2013 it\u2019s a whole lot less transparent, and it is done usually without any local input,\u201d he added.\r\nRep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a top leadership ally and advocate for some restoration of earmarks, defended Ryan\u2019s intervention. \u201cWe want to do this the right way,\u201d he said.\r\nWhile the effort to ease up on the earmark ban is picking up steam in the House, it looks like a nonstarter on the other side of the Capitol.\r\n\u201cI don\u2019t think a change in the Senate\u2019s conference rules is in the offering, so I expect the ban to continue,\u201d Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) told reporters Wednesday before the House conference meeting.\r\nDemocratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri criticized Republican efforts to alter the ban.\r\n\u201cDrain the swamp and the first thing they do is bring back the lobbyist fantasy, and that is that K Street gets to be all about earmarks again?\u201d she asked. \u201cIt is just stunning to me.\u201d\r\n            \r\n             \r\n            \r\n            \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/paul-ryan-blocks-effort-to-partially-restore-earmarks"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.078286837786436, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}