Will the efforts of two horsemen of the apocalypse congressmen result in the ‘earmarking’ of US Congress’ funding of the International Fund for Ireland? The coup de grace on that funding was supposed to have been delivered some time ago…
The Washington Post reports on the debate over whether the attempt by New York Reps. Peter King [R] and Joseph Crowley [D], who cite “diplomatic reasons” for their efforts, constitutes an congressional earmark – which are currently banned.
From the Washington Post report
In March, Obama signed a short-term spending resolution that included a handful of specific cuts, including one slashing $17 million for the International Fund for Ireland, a group that promotes peace and reconciliation between nationalists and unionists in the Emerald Isle. The cut marked a rare example of agreement between House Republicans, many of whom consider the program a poor use of U.S. money, and the White House, which zeroed out funding for the IFI in its 2011 budget request.
But some government programs, like horror-movie villains, are stubbornly unwilling to die, even after they’ve gotten the ax, and now Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) is leading a group of lawmakers hoping to restore money for the IFI. That effort has renewed debate not just about the merits of the donation, but also whether it constitutes an earmark — or perhaps an Éiremark? — and thus should be prohibited under the House GOP’s rules.