The Politico/Morning Consult poll found 75% of registered voters either strongly or somewhat support the package. A majority likes the scope of the package: 45% of those polled say the bill's provisions offer the right amount of support, while 24% believe it offers too little. The poll found just 21% think the bill offers too much.

The Pew poll similarly found 41% of Americans see the size of the package as about right, while 25% say it is too small. That poll also found 70% of adults support the legislation, including 41% of self-identified Republicans. The poll, conducted among 12,055 adults between March 1-7, also found that 57% of the public believes the Biden administration made a good faith effort to work with Republicans.

Earmarking was linked to corruption in the 2000s, leading to an outcry and their banishment in both the House and Senate. But many in Congress say the ban has gone too far, ceding the “power of the purse” to party leaders and the executive branch and giving lawmakers less incentive to work with members of the other party on major legislation.

Democratic appropriators in the House see a solution and are proposing a revamped process allowing lawmakers to submit public requests for “community project funding” in federal spending bills. To guard against graft, the process includes safeguards to prevent conflicts of interest.

Whether earmarking becomes bipartisan could have enormous implications not only for the allocation of spending across the country, but for President Joe Biden, who is gearing up for a massive infrastructure push that he hopes will attract significant Republican support. With earmarking in place, bipartisanship could prove easier to achieve, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle could have reason to support bills they would otherwise oppose.

“This is a matter of allowing members to serve their own constituents,” said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla. “Somebody is going to be making these decisions — and I don’t want to bash federal bureaucrats — but somebody who has never been to my district probably doesn’t know the needs as well as I do.”