The Senate overwhelmingly rejected a one-year ban on earmarks strongly backed by a small contingent of fiscal hawks, including Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.).
71 senators voted against a measure championed by Sen. Jim DeMint (S.C.) to amend the 2009 budget to include a year-long moratorium on pork-barrel projects late Thursday evening.
29 senators voted for the amendment.
[See bottom of the story for a complete vote tally]
Although ban did not pass, it did attract an interesting coalition of support. In the run-up to the vote longtime earmarkers and Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Hillary Clinton (D.-N.Y.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D.-Ill.) signed on to become cosponsors of DeMint’s amendment. Two other Democrats crossed party lines to cosponsor the measure: Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and Missouri freshman Sen. Claire McCaskill.
Along with DeMint and McCain, Republicans signing on to the bill included: Sen. Tom Coburn (R.-Okla.), Sen. Jon Kyl (R.-Ariz.), Sen. Bob Corker (R.-Tenn.), Sen. Richard Burr (R.-North Carolina), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R.-S.C), Sen. John Cornyn (R.-Tex), Sen. Mel Martinez (R.-Florida), Sen. Mike Enzi (R.-Wyo.), Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla/).
McCain said in a statement directed toward Clinton and Obama before the vote , “I am encouraged by some of my Democratic colleagues’ new-found enthusiasm for suspending this practice for a year. I hope their recent commitments do not wane once they step off the campaign trail.’’
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In the fiscal year 2008 budget, Clinton and Obama snagged hundreds of millions worth of earmarks. According to the taxpayer watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste, Obama sponsored or cosponsored $98 million worth of pet projects and Clinton sponsored or secured a whopping $342 million.
Senators who voted against the earmark ban:
Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bennett (R-UT)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Bond (R-MO)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
Dodd (D-CT)
Domenici (R-NM)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Harkin (D-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inouye (D-HI)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lugar (R-IN)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Stevens (R-AK)
Tester (D-MT)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)
Webb (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wicker (R-MS)
Wyden (D-OR)
Senators who voted for the earmark ban:
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bayh (D-IN)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Clinton (D-NY)
Coburn (R-OK)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
DeMint (R-SC)
Dole (R-NC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Feingold (D-WI)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McCaskill (D-MO)
McConnell (R-KY)
Obama (D-IL)
Sessions (R-AL)
Sununu (R-NH)
Thune (R-SD)
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