Senators launch earmark reform effort
McCain and Feingold join forces again in support of a major overhaul.
Sens. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and John McCain, R-Ariz., are set to renew their collaboration on reform efforts that resulted in the campaign-finance law passed in 2002.
McCain and Feingold, along with Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., will unveil "major legislation to reform the earmark system," their offices announced Tuesday. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., will also co-sponsor the bill.
The measure is part of what appears to be a broad push for earmark reform in the 111th Congress. Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, and House Appropriations Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., earlier Tuesday announced a plan to increase transparency of earmarks in fiscal 2010 appropriations bills through steps like requiring members to post earmark requests online, and releasing earmarks tables at the subcommittee level. Inouye and Obey also pledged to cut earmarks below fiscal 2008 levels.
House Republicans have also created a Select Committee on Earmark Reform, but Democrats have declined to join the panel.