The Times-Picayune » President Donald Trump and some members of Congress would like to bring back ‘earmarks,’ amendments to spending bills that fund individual projects, to move infrastructure projects forward. The House Rules Committee is scheduled to hold hearings on the subject this week, titled “Effective Oversight and the Power of the Purse” – a nod to the belief among many Republicans that the earmark ban imposed by House Speaker John A. Boehner in 2011 effectively gave up some of Congress’s unique constitutional power to direct how taxpayer money is spent.