The Hill News

Sen. Mark Udall (D) of Colorado became one of the first Democrats to support Jim DeMint's (R-S.C.) earmark ban on Monday when he tweeted that he would "work to reform the process."

"It's time to reduce gov't waste," he wrote on his Twitter feed. "Starting today, I will not request congressional #earmarks."

Monday heralded new successes for the movement after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), normally a proponent of earmarks, said in a floor speech that he would support DeMint's moratorium. 

"There is simply no doubt that the abuse of this practice has caused Americans to view it as a symbol of the waste and out-of-control spending that every Republican in Washington is determined to fight. ... And unless people like me show the American people that we’re willing to follow through on sma! ll or even symbolic things, we risk losing them on our broader efforts to cut spending and rein in government," McConnell said.

As a Democrat, Udall joins Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, who also opposes earmarks.