(Update: On Thursday, House Democrats rejected Republican efforts to force an immediate vote on legislation calling for a full moratorium on all earmarks. A total of 204 Democrats voted against a Republican proposal calling for a moratorium on all earmarks and the establishment of a bipartisan, bicameral committee to fix the spending process.)

(CNSNews.com) - House Republican leaders said they are disappointed that Democrats have rejected a Republican call for an immediate moratorium on taxpayer-funded earmarks (also known as pork-barrel projects or wasteful spending).

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said they will force a vote on an earmark reform provision Thursday, when a higher education authorization bill comes to the House floor.

"House Republicans regret Speaker Pelosi's decision to keep the earmark factory open," Boehner said.

"Middle-class families are fed up with Washington politicians squandering their hard-earned money, particularly at a time when families are struggling with the rising cost of living. We need to bring fundamental change to the way Washington spends the American people's money, but this change cannot begin until the earmarks stop."

Three Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee -- Reps. Jack Kingston of Georgia, Frank Wolf of Virginia and Zack Wamp of Tennessee - are sponsoring legislation that would bring the earmark process to a halt and establish a panel to identify ways to permanently change the spending process.

The reform bill has been cosponsored by 129 House Republicans, including the entire House Republican leadership team. However, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has declined to support the measure or the proposed earmark moratorium, Boehner said.

In a letter to Boehner on Wednesday, Pelosi she looks forward to making "additional improvements to the earmark rules for Congress." She also said "the large number of Presidential earmarks deserve the same scrutiny and restraint" as those submitted by members of Congress.

"Democrats will continue to hold the line on earmarks in the House and require unprecedented disclosure from Members in both parties who seek earmarks, as well as from the Administration," Pelosi said.

Rep. Blunt said it's clear that Democrats lack both the will and the appetite to work with Republicans on an immediate earmark moratorium. "So it's incumbent upon us to use every opportunity available to speak up for the millions of Americans who have had enough," Blunt said.

The House is scheduled to vote Thursday on legislation that would reauthorize the Higher Education Act, including part of the law known as the Fund for Improving Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE). Many reform advocates say FIPSE is a taxpayer-funded slush fund for higher education earmarks.

FIPSE's various programs include the Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural Program, which "provides grants to support research, exhibition, interpretation, and collection of artifacts related to the history of the Underground Railroad," the Education Department says.