The House voted 245–171 on Thursday to approve a new rule that imposes disclosure requirements on any congressman who sponsors an earmark. The rule, which will take effect immediately, requires House committees to provide a list of earmarks in each authorizing, appropriations, or tax bill — disclosing who added them, who will benefit from them, and how much they will cost. It will apply only to House bills, but any earmarks added in conference and then returned to the House would also have to be disclosed before a final vote. This is a worthy step toward reducing pork-barrel spending, but the fight against waste, fraud, and abuse is far from over. For starters, the Senate should pass a similar rule. More broadly, Republicans should enact budget reforms that make it easier for members to strip especially egregious earmarks from must-pass legislation. The best reform would be the elimination of earmarks altogether, but given yesterday’s thinner-than-expected margin of victory on this very modest change, we expect that Congress won’t soon kick its pork addiction.

That’s but a piece of this week’s Window on The Week — our Friday wrap-up…read it all here.