The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee has issued guidance banning all earmarks and requiring complete transparency in the process of amending future defense authorization bills. Released by Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA) today, the guidelines state that budgetary legislative proposals “must be offered as an amendment to the bill (not the committee report)” when the full committee meets to mark up the defense authorization legislation. McKeon notes that the proposals must be voted on by the full committee. “Only...
