Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has called for a Justice Department investigation into a notorious earmark in the 2005 highway bill that was changed to build the Coconut Road interchange after Congress approved the measure but before it reached President Bush’s desk for his signature.

Reid said the language should be included in an amendment already offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) that would create a committee of House and Senate members to investigate the earmark.
Coburn’s amendment had sparked opposition from some Democrats, who raised constitutional questions about whether members of the Senate should take part in a committee investigating the House.

The move turns up the heat on Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), who was chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee when the Coconut Road earmark was changed.

Watchdog groups have blamed Young or his staff for the change, which they say benefited developer Daniel Aronoff, who owns land along Coconut Road and helped organize a fundraiser for Young earlier that year.

Young, who is under FBI investigation for his ties to an Alaska oil company, took Tuesday’s news in stride.

“Congressman Young has always supported and welcomed an open earmark process,” said Young spokeswoman Meredith Kenny. “If Congress decides to take up the matter of this particular project, there will be no objection from Mr. Young.”

Coburn, however, signaled opposition. He said Congress and not the administration should handle investigating internal abuses of the legislative process. A Justice Department probe is “going in the wrong direction,” said Coburn spokesman John Hart.

“The Coconut Road episode undermined the constitutional authority of every member of Congress, in both branches, equally,” he said. “Congress itself should lead the investigation into an action that hijacked Congress’s fundamental right to legislate.”

In a year in which earmarks have dominated talk in both parties, the Coconut Road earmark has become one of the most egregious examples cited by parties who fault the process.

When the 2005 highway bill first passed Congress, the $10 million earmark was designated for widening and improving Interstate 75 in Ft. Myers, Fla. It was then mysteriously changed to build an interchange at Coconut Road. The local Florida transportation authority was surprised by the change and voted three times to reverse it or send the money back to Washington.

Coburn plans to offer his amendment to legislation making technical corrections to the 2005 highway bill, which will come to the floor for a vote as early as Wednesday. He previously has called on the House and Senate ethics committees to investigate the matter. Presidential front-runners Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) signed on as co-sponsors Tuesday.

Reid raised the possibility of an investigation by the attorney general as several Democrats, including Sen. Barbara Boxer (Calif.), chairwoman of the Senate Ethics Committee, on Tuesday questioned whether Coburn’s amendment was constitutional. They also indicated they were working to try to find a solution with Coburn.

“The question is, Who investigates?” said Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). “Here we have questions involving a House member, and whether the Senate should investigate a House member. Sen. Boxer is right — each chamber has the responsibility for its own members, but there could be a little different approach that might be more comprehensive. We’re working on it.”

Florida Sens. Mel Martinez (R) and Bill Nelson (D), who plan to co-sponsor Coburn’s amendment, also are involved in discussions on a compromise that would fall short of a congressional investigation and avoid a Justice probe. Martinez suggested that one option would be a probe led by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO). 

“The people in Southwest Florida want to know exactly what happened here and I agree with them,” Martinez said. “I think it’s a good thing to have an investigation; how that is accomplished is a different question.”

Hart said Coburn could agree to have the GAO handle the probe instead of members if the GAO is granted subpoena power.

“That’s one thing we’re looking at, but we’re not wedded to any one way,” Hart acknowledged. “The GAO is required to do whatever Congress tells it to do, but we want to make sure [it can have subpoena power] before we support it.”

House leaders were reticent of supporting any formal investigation. Asked if GOP leaders could support a probe that might focus on a member of his conference, a spokesman for Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said House Republicans are focused on trying to get Democrats to sign onto their earmark moratorium pledge.

“House Republicans are focused on forcing the House Democratic leaders to join us in an earmark moratorium and real earmark reform as part of our efforts to fight wasteful Washington spending,” said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel.

A spokesman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) declined to comment.