Senate GOP opens door to earmarks

Top GOP senators said there wasn't a formal group decision. But they think Republicans will land on letting each member make a decision about if they want to request the congressionally directed spending, rather than enforcing a unified caucus-wide stance. "I think the decision is headed toward letting every member decide if they want to participate in the earmark process," Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a member of GOP leadership and the powerful Senate panel, told The Hill about the closed-door meeting. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the top Republican senator on the committee, echoed Blunt, saying it would be up to a senator to make a decision on earmarks. He declined to say if he would request earmarks. "I was telling my people that what the Democrats are going to do, regardless of what we do," he said. "if they gave us four billion in the Senate for the Republicans ... and we don't take it, then they'll get eight."