PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: Continuing the battle:

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) resumed his efforts to implement a series of new ethics and earmark reform rules Monday afternoon and warned his colleagues that he may force the chamber to remain in session through the August recess if Democratic leaders do not drop their objections to his demands.

DeMint proposed Monday to adopt the new Senate earmark rules – which, among other things, would require the Appropriations Committee to disclose all earmarks requested by individual lawmakers that have been included in spending bills – and then begin the long-stalled conference on a lobbying and ethics bill.

Pointing to a recent Congressional Research Service report stating Appropriations subcommittees have had varying degrees of success with implementing the new rules voluntarily, DeMint argued that “it’s clear we need a formal rule in place that applies to all committees” and warned that he could object to the start of the August recess if the rules are not adopted. “Maybe that would be a good thing,” he argued.

DeMint’s gambit – which Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) was forced to object to – follows a similar showdown on the Senate floor just prior to the July Fourth recess.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) were seconds away from agreeing to begin the ethics conference in late June when DeMint called the Republican cloakroom to remind McConnell of his long-standing hold on the bill. As a result, the agreement to name conferees collapsed and Democrats used the GOP mix-up as a chance to hammer Republicans on ethics.

DeMint has blocked the naming of conferees on the lobbying and ethics bill because Democrats included in the measure a set of Senate earmark reforms, despite the fact they apply to that chamber and do not need House approval to be put in place.

DeMint and a core group of GOP conservatives are expected to continue their tactical fight with Senate leaders as the chamber takes up appropriations bills later this year, many of which are packed with earmarks.

Bring it on.