House Republicans said Friday they’ll reject all earmarks in appropriations bills in the next Congress, continuing the ban they imposed when they took control after the 2010 election.
House Speaker John A. Boehner, who was just re-elected this week to keep that position in the 113th Congress, announced the renewed ban.
“This earmark ban shows the American people we are listening,” Mr. Boehner said, “and we are dead serious about ending business as usual in Washington.”
Earmarks became the symbol of runaway Washington spending over the last two decades and ballooned when Republicans took control of Congress after the 1994 election.
Democrats reformed the process but kept them in place until Republican pressure forced them to follow suit.
