Members of Congress have averted an impasse over earmarks in spending bills for 2008. Under a deal reached last night, Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives agreed to allow earmarks to be added to early versions of the bills, and Republicans agreed not to delay the bills through parliamentary tactics, Bloomberg News reported.

The move reversed a stance taken by Rep. David R. Obey, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, to add earmarks to the bills late in the appropriations process, after the underlying bills had been approved by the full House. Mr. Obey, a Wisconsin Democrat, said that approach was necessary for committee staff members to evaluate the more than 30,000 requests for earmarks received for the 2008 fiscal year, which begins on October 1. Mr. Obey said that the review would avoid duplication among projects.

Republicans accused him of reneging on Democratic pledges to make the controversial practice of earmarking more transparent. Mr. Obey and his Democratic colleagues backed down because they wanted to show they could pass appropriations bills on time, which Republicans failed to do when they controlled Congress.

Under the agreement, Republicans will retain the option of offering amendments to spending bills to strip out individual earmarks — which legislators cannot do when Congressional leaders add earmarks to the bills late in the appropriations process. But if Republicans do declare open season on earmarks, it will be a striking departure from past practice, when earmarking had bipartisan support. Under Republican control, Congress more than tripled the amount spent on earmarks, which are controversial, noncompetitive awards secured by legislators for colleges and other favored constitutents. —Jeffrey Brainard