Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has left herself room to request earmarks this year if she loses the Democratic presidential nomination and remains in the Senate, in contrast to the other two senators still running for president.

While Clinton has joined Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, in backing a measure banning earmarks for a year, she has not explicitly promised to request no earmarks this year.

A Clinton spokesman this week would not directly answer the question of whether Clinton would submit earmark requests this year. Instead, spokesman Philippe Reines in a series of e-mails repeatedly noted Clinton’s co-sponsorship of an amendment sponsored by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) that calls for a one-year earmark moratorium.

The Senate was expected to vote on that amendment, which has also drawn sponsorship from Obama and McCain, after The Hill went to press.

Reines said Clinton is proud of investments she has secured for New York to bolster homeland security, train nurses, improve hospitals and help men and women in the armed forces.

“Because questions have been raised about the process, she feels that the concerns should be taken seriously, and a one-year moratorium will allow a hard look at how more sunlight and transparency can be brought to this process — which is why she has co-sponsored and supports the legislation,” Reines wrote in an e-mail.

[After press time for the print edition, Reines sent a follow-up e-mail to the Hill saying Clinton would limit earmark requests to “critical needs for New York and America such as providing healthcare for those suffering from the effects of 9/11, bolstering our national and homeland security, and providing our brave men and women in uniform with the resources they need to achieve their missions….  She has made public the funding she has helped to secure and will make public the requests she submits this year.”]

If the Senate does not agree to an earmark moratorium, Clinton’s public comments would still give her room to request earmarks for New York.

Obama has not given himself such room. “The entire earmarks process needs to be re-examined and reformed. For that reason, I will be supporting Sen. DeMint’s amendment and will not be requesting earmarks this year for Illinois,” Obama said in a March 10 release.

Last year, Clinton sponsored more than $342 million worth of earmarks either by herself or with other lawmakers, according to data compiled by Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget watchdog group. Obama took in more than $98 million by himself or with other lawmakers. McCain secured none because he did not ask for any earmarks.

The conservative Club for Growth seized on Clinton’s position Thursday, and said she was the “one glaring omission” from the list of members adopting a self-imposed moratorium on earmarks. It called on her to join Obama and McCain in swearing off earmarks.

“John McCain has long been a leader on the issue of wasteful spending, and Sen. Obama has now recognized the importance of leading by example. What is Hillary Clinton waiting for?” Club for Growth President Pat Toomey said in the release.

Reines did not respond to messages asking for a response to the Club’s release Thursday.

The 15 co-sponsors on DeMint’s measure include members who plan to request earmarks this year and others who do not, but DeMint said he saw no conflict.

“We’ve got a mix, and it’s up to them,” he said. “We’re not saying they should cut themselves off if this doesn’t pass or whatever, but everybody who’s co-sponsoring agrees we’ve got a problem and we need to take a time-out.”

Among the co-sponsors, Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Thursday they won’t offer any earmarks at all. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said he would not “if the moratorium passes.”

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said he will make “limited requests.”

Separately, DeMint’s office criticized Democratic leaders for scheduling a late vote on his amendment, suggesting the timing was designed so presidential candidates will miss the vote. While all three candidates support the measure, it is not popular with many members of both parties who might not want to highlight their differences with their party’s presidential contenders.  

“[Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid should stop denying McCain, Obama and Clinton the chance to vote to stop the earmark favor factory,” said Wesley Denton, a DeMint spokesman.
Democrats denied the charge. “There’s no hint of truth,” said Rodell Mollineau, a spokesman for Reid (D-Nev.).