House Republican appropriators have banned earmarks from the Labor-HHS-Education, Financial Services and Defense bills and cut the cap on "community project funding" in half in new rules regulating the process on that side of the Capitol. House Appropriations Chairwoman Kay Granger, R-Texas, announced the new rules Tuesday night. Earmark spending will be capped at 0.5 percent of total discretionary spending, and members will have to submit a written statement describing the “federal nexus” for their earmark requests.