Oklahoma US Senator Tom Coburn on Fox News talking about Banning Earmark

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) pledged to force a vote on earmarks even and especially if Republican senators fail to ban the practice in a closed-door vote tomorrow. When the Food Safety bill comes up, said Coburn, "we can suspend the rules and have a vote on whether have earmarks or not."

Coburn's strategy would deny wavering Republicans a chance to defeat the "earmark ban" in a secret ballot. Senator-elect Mike Lee of Utah has asked for tomorrow's vote to be on the record, something that both Coburn and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) say they support. A secret ballot, they claim, is the only method by which the GOP conference won't approve the promise not to request earmarks.