The discussion will take place during a scheduled conference meeting, with a series of secret-ballot votes likely. None of the decisions made in the meeting will be binding on members, but they will indicate where the Senate GOP stands on the issue as Democrats, with majorities in each chamber, plan to use earmarks and House Republicans have already decided to join them.
The conference meeting will happen around 4 p.m.
A Senate Republican's aide told Fox News that a series of votes are expected Wednesday, including a vote on whether to preserve the existing moratorium on earmarks. Votes are also expected on amendments proposed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, which could ban earmark money from going to the family of members or political organizations.
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The source declared they are "pretty sure" the conference will "vote to continue the ban," adding that they "don't see widespread support" for earmarks within the conference.
"Earmarks, that is a losing issue across the political spectrum," Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a vocal opponent of earmarks, stressed to Fox News. "There really isn't a single segment of the electorate outside of this Washington bubble that supports pork."
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Ernst cited polling that shows most Republicans and independents voters are largely opposed to earmarks. She also noted the "Bridge to Nowhere" project in Alaska that drew widespread attention to earmarks last decade, calling it "infamous." Some members of Congress in the past have even gone to jail over how they handled earmarks.
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"For us to be focusing on really wasteful spending and encouraging more of it, that is a losing issue," she went on. "This is one issue that has always pulled us together, to eliminate wasteful spending... We're sitting at $30 trillion of debt."
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Some GOP senators are expected to support allowing earmarks, which are officially called "Community Project Funding" by the House Democrats who moved first to bring them back.
Some argue that by not participating in earmarks Congress is essentially delegating some of its constitutional authority over spending to the president. Others say that earmarks would give members a direct buy-in to the legislative process, making for more engaged representatives and perhaps even more civil dealmaking between the parties.
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Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has been a vocal supporter of lifting the earmark ban. So has former President Trump.
"The top Republican in the country, meaning Trump, supports earmarks, and why shouldn't we?" Graham told his GOP colleagues, according to Axios.
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"Democrats do it; if we don't do it, we're stupid," he told Axios reporters. "We shouldn't just be out of the game."
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, also appears to be open to bringing back earmarks. He said he supports "meritorious and transparent" earmarks, according to Roll Call.
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