I just received this notice from House Republican Leader John Boehner:
Tonight House GOP leaders sent Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) a letter calling on her to join House Republicans in an immediate moratorium on earmarks and to appoint a bipartisan, bicameral joint committee to reform the earmark process and eliminate wasteful spending. GOP leaders asked Speaker Pelosi to respond to the request by February 1st, the end of the Democratic Caucus retreat, and outlined a series of earmark reform standards House Republicans will adopt immediately. Excerpts and the full text of the letter are below:
"We write to notify you tonight that House Republicans believe that the congressional earmark process should be brought to an immediate halt, and a bipartisan select committee should immediately be established for the purpose of identifying ways to bring fundamental change to the way in which Washington spends taxpayers' money," GOP leaders wrote to Pelosi.
"In the spirit of bipartisan cooperation fostered by our recent cooperation on a short-term economic growth package, we offer our hope that you and the members of the House Democratic Caucus will join House Republicans in supporting these steps, which are urgently needed to begin the process of fixing Washington's broken spending practices and restoring trust between the American people and their elected leaders," the letter continues. "We respectfully ask that you and your Caucus consider these urgently-needed actions and join us in supporting them by the conclusion of your Caucus retreat next week."
"In the interim, until a complete earmark moratorium is in place and a bipartisan panel is formed to identify ways to fix Washington's wasteful pork-barrel spending habits, House Republicans will proceed with the adoption of a series of earmark reform standards we will insist that all House Republican members honor," wrote the leaders.
It's ironic that Republicans in Congress are choosing to take a stand against earmarks at the same time that the president has evidently decided to back down from a confrontation with Congress over them. This move is bound to cheer fiscal conservatives, and it will help improve the image of Republicans as the party of fiscal responsibility.
This move evinces a strong interest among Congressional Republicans in changing their image, and being taken seriously as agents of reform. Most will hope that Democratic leaders ignore the request -- giving them an issue to run on.
