WASHINGTON — Sen. Mike Lee says the move to bring earmarks back to Congress is a “step in the wrong direction," The Salt Lake Tribune reports.
In late February Democrats in Congress said they were bringing back a version of the controversial practice, which allowed individual members of Congress to direct spending for specific programs. The budgetary mechanism was banned in 2011 after prompting several scandals. Democrats aren’t calling them “earmarks” anymore, ditching that term in favor of “community-project funding.”
Lee, who is part of an effort to permanently ban budgetary earmarks, says bringing back the practice would not be a return to the “glory days” of Congress.
“They were not glory days. They were sad, dreary days that were bad for liberty and bad for the American people,” said Lee during an interview with the right-wing news outlet One America News Network.
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