McConnell, in offering his bill, cited declining public participation in the public financing program. The percentage of Americans agreeing to divert $3 from their tax bill to the program in 2007 was 8.3 percent, down from a high of 28.7 percent in 1980, when the check-off was $1, Internal Revenue Statistics show.

"In a time of exploding deficits and record debt, the last thing the American people want right now is to provide what amounts to welfare for politicians," McConnell said in a statement.

House Republicans have promised to vote each week on proposals to cut spending. "In times when government has no choice but to do more with less, voting to end the Presidential Election Campaign Fund should be a no-brainer," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Virginia Republican, said during yesterday's debate.