, Columnist
Congress Needs to Bring Back Earmarks
A handout here or there would help end partisan gridlock.
Come back to the center.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Congressional “earmarks” may be coming back, with the House Rules Committee set to convene hearings this month, possibly to reverse a (complicated) 2010 ban on the federal spending perks directed to local projects. President Donald Trump seems to be on board, telling a group of lawmakers at the White House on Tuesday: “You should do it.”
One person’s pork-barrel spending is another’s public good, but think of earmarks as local benefits inserted into bills to buy more votes in Congress. That sounds bad, but in a fraught, polarized time it could be exactly what the U.S. government needs.