Lindsey Graham

Showdown Over Port vs. Pork Averted: Graham and Reid Reach Deal

Susan Crabtree | April 14, 2011, 7:34PM

Another shutdown showdown averted -- this time the shutdown of the Senate over the paltry sum of $50,000.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have reached an accommodation to provide $50,000 for a study on deepening the Port of Charleston, and now Graham is standing down and is no longer threatening to "tie the Senate in knots" and block Obama's nominations from winning Senate approval.

"Now, it's not often that I'm a cheerleader for pieces of legislation that are suggested
and moved forward by Republicans, but I was on this one," Reid told Graham in a remarks on the Senate floor Thursday evening.

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Topics: Department of Transportation, Earmarks, Harry Reid, James Clyburn, Jim DeMint, Joe Biden, Lindsey Graham, Pork, Senate

Jim DeMint

Senator Tea Party In Bind Over Port vs. Pork

Susan Crabtree | April 14, 2011, 5:14PM

Update: Sen. Jim DeMint's (R-SC) spokesman accuses Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) of being a johnny-come-lately to securing funds for the Port of Charleston. He says "era of earmarks is over" and earmarks are backlogged at Army Corps of Engineers, exacerbating the problem with the port funding. Instead of trying to directing the Army Corp to fund the study, he wants to create a commission to ensure projects are funded on their merits. More developments, including DeMint spokesman's full statement.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), or Senator Tea Party as he's sometimes known, has found himself between a bit of a rock and a hard place over spending for a job-dependent project in his district and his role as the leading anti-earmark crusader in the upper chamber.

Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), a prominent House Democrat, on Thursday issued a scathing indictment of DeMint, his GOP South Carolina colleague, for effectively killing jobs in the state by refusing to back money for a study on deepening the Port of Charleston.

But others, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who is threatening to "tie the Senate in knots" over the funds, have said DeMint supports federal funds for the port and is privately helping to secure them.

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Topics: Army Corp of Engineers, Department of Transportation, Earmarks, Infrastructure, James Clyburn, Jim DeMint, Joe Biden, Lindsey Graham, Panama Canal, Pork, Stimulus

Earmarks

Congress Shackles Itself, Slashes Earmarks to Nowhere

Susan Crabtree | April 12, 2011, 11:32AM

Over the last few years in the hotly contested debate over Congress' ability to direct money to pet projects in their district, advocates of the practice, known as earmarking, have repeatedly argued that eliminating earmarks would only amount to a drop in the deficit bucket and have no real impact on overall spending.

The details of the deal to avert a government shutdown go a long way in undermining that point as the government is saving $10 billion by eliminating money usually set aside for earmark spending, including $630 million for so-called earmarks to nowhere, money for earmarks that has never been spent.

The latest measure that funds the government through the end of September even slashes $4.2 billion in Department of Defense earmarks, once a sacred cow of senior lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

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Topics: Barack Obama, Budget, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Transportation, Earmarks, FEMA, Government Shutdown, House Republicans, Senate Democrats