"Republican senators will be meeting with the new members before announcing any new plans for the next Congress," said McConnell spokesman Don Stewart.
House Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio and Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia said they want Republicans to continue their earmark moratorium, though they'll likely face opposition from some of the party's senior members on the House Appropriations Committee.
"That means that it becomes even more complicated, because there are going to be these old bulls - Jerry Lewis, Bill Young, Hal Rogers - that stand to clean up with their position on Appropriations," said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, referring to veteran GOP congressmen from California, Florida and Kentucky, respectively.
But with Mr. Boehner never having sought earmarks, with Mr. Cantor having given up the practice a few years ago, and with the prospect of a 2011 class of "rabble-rousing freshmen," Mr. Ellis said, "you've got a pretty combustible mix."
Of the 27 non-incumbent Republican Senate candidates running this year, 23 have sworn off earmarks for themselves or have proposed a moratorium or outright ban. A number of them have even signed pledges to that effect.
Almost all competitive congressional races have candidates who oppose earmarks, and many of them are likely to unseat incumbents. Sen. Robert F. Bennett lost the Republican nomination in Utah to Mike Lee, and Rand Paul appears to be on track to win the seat from Kentucky being vacated by Sen. Jim Bunning, an earmarker.
In Kansas, Rep. Jerry Moran is favored to win the seat left open by Sen. Sam Brownback. Mr. Moran supports a moratorium, his spokeswoman said.
The GOP nominees for Republican-held seats in Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire and Alaska also oppose earmarks.
Meanwhile, Republican candidates in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Indiana - where Republicans have a reasonable chance of winning Democrat-held seats - have signed an anti-pork pledge devised by Citizens Against Government Waste.
President Obama, who supported a ban on earmarks during his last year in the Senate, could see his old seat go to an earmark opponent, Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, who became one of the first Republicans on the House spending committee to call for an overhaul of the practice several years ago.
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