Later today House Republicans will launch a discharge petition (a process to force a bill out of committee) in an attempt to get a vote on a resolution that will ensure all earmarks are publicly disclosed and subject to challenge on the floor.

As we’ve seen over the past eight months, the porous earmarking rules passed by House leadership have allowed numerous earmarks to slip through. Of course, many Members (both Republican and Democrat) have voted against amendments offered by Rep. Jeff Flake on the floor to strip earmarks out of the bills. Having the opportunity to challenge pork projects is nice, but it really becomes valuable to taxpayers when “fiscal conservatives” actually vote to kill the earmarks. Here’s a list of Members who voted for all the Flake anti-earmark amendments.

NTU supports the discharge petition and greater earmark transparency. The petition needs 217 signatures to get a vote on the House floor, and we’re going to help round up signers. Will Members who campaigned on “fiscal responsibility” now step up to the plate?