I'd be a lot more excited about eliminating earmarks if we reduced all of the spending by whatever the earmarks used to be, but nobody's, apparently, going to talk about doing that.

He announced that he would step down from the position in late 2008 following two successive election cycles where House Republicans had lost seats and to avoid a difficult battle with his deputy Eric Cantor who was urged by some to challenge Blunt for the position of Republican Whip. Representative John Boehner of Ohio won on the second ballot with 122 votes to 109 for Blunt. He and his son are the only Republicans to have served as Missouri Secretary of State since 1945.

Blunt served as the United States Representative from Missouri's 7th congressional district from 1997 to 2011. His Senate seat was previously held by Republican Kit Bond until Bond's retirement. The district contains most of Southwest Missouri the most conservative part of the state anchored in the city of Springfield as well as cities such as Joplin Carthage and Neosho.