The unusual GOP alliance pushing earmarks in this fall’s funding fight

Vulnerable incumbents and deficit hard-liners are joining forces in an unlikely partnership, pushing House GOP leaders to put earmarks on the table to head off a government funding fight this fall.

The federal coffers are due to dry up Sept. 30. And, as part of any agreement to avert a shutdown Oct. 1, a significant segment of the House Republican Conference is now demanding the inclusion of so-called community project funding. That’s the name Democrats gave their earmark rebrand in 2021 after Republicans banned a more permissive version of the practice for a decade.

Among those now agitating for earmarks — once shunned by most fiscal hawks — are members of the Main Street Caucus, a contingent of 83 business-friendly Republicans heavily stacked with frontliners.