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

Lindsey Graham

Graham's $50K For Port Was Originally An Earmark DeMint Killed

Susan Crabtree | April 13, 2011, 12:42PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is waging a one-man war with the White House over $50,000 for a project in his home state that was nixed in the budget deal, but he really has his rock-ribbed conservative, Tea Party-loyalist South Carolina colleague Sen. Jim DeMint to blame for losing the money for a study on deepening the Port of Charleston.

Graham publicly blasted the Obama administration Tuesday for failing to include the funding for the study in its budget request laid out in February and threatened to block all of the President's nominations in the Senate because it was left out of the budget deal.

Graham on Tuesday took pains to say he is not requesting an earmark, but there have been several attempts to earmark money for the port study. DeMint effectively killed every one and refused to join a letter to the White House with the rest of the South Carolina delegation requesting the funds.

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Topics: Budget, Earmarks, House Republicans, Jim DeMint, Jobs, Lindsey Graham, Stimulus

Lindsey Graham

Graham Vows To 'Tie Senate In Knots' Over $50K Left Out Of Budget Deal

Susan Crabtree | April 13, 2011, 9:08AM

Update: Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) office issued a detailed defense of his threats to "tie the Senate in knots" and block all of Obama nominations over $50,000 left out of last week's 11th-hour budget deal for a study on deepening the Port of Charleston.

For critics who said the state should come up with its own funds for the Army Corp of Engineers' study to deepen the port, Graham spokesman Kevin Bishop said such an easy solution is actually impossible under federal law.

The South Carolina State Ports Authority, which is responsible for operations of the Charleston Port, is ready to write the check for the state's share of the the study, but federal law requires Congress to cough up funds to enable the Army Corp of Engineers to move forward with the study. It would be the second step in the process; a first study already determined a federal interest in deepening the harbor.

"The Corps requires virtually all ports around the country to shoulder some of the costs of feasibility studies, engineering, and design on harbor deepening," Bishop said. "South Carolina is ready to go. Now we're waiting on the feds to kick in their share. Without that green light, our state is stuck in neutral and cannot proceed."

Not all Republicans were celebrating Tuesday about the fine print of the $38.5 billion in cuts House Republicans managed to wrangle in last week's 11th-hour budget showdown. Tea Party loyalists who wanted tens of billions more cut from this year's spending were shaking their heads, and at least one senator was lamenting a budget omission he said would hit his state's economy hard.

In fact, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was down right incensed over the decision not to include a mere $50,000 for an Army Corps of Engineers study on deepening the Port of Charleston in his home state and vowed to "tie the Senate in knots" by holding up Obama administration nominations.

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Topics: Barack Obama, Budget, Earmarks, Government Shutdown, House Republicans, House of Representatives, Lindsey Graham, Senate

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