Hoyer: Removing Earmarks "fine With Me"

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said today that he did not object to a proposal from Rep. Dave Obey (D-Wis.) to remove all the earmarks from remaining appropriations bills.

"It's fine with me," he told reporters Wednesday morning.

Obey suggested yanking the earmarks, the pet projects coveted by members on both side of the aisle, in order to shave $11 billion from the spending bills and meet President Bush's budget demands.

Republicans have dismissed the suggestion as an "idle threat."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told the Associated Press on Tuesday that she too would not be opposed. "I think it's great. I do," she said.