(Updates with further detail.)

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- U.S. House of Representatives lawmakers said Wednesday they have banned spending earmarks that benefit for-profit companies in a further crackdown on the practice of legislators delivering so-called pork for their districts.

The move comes at a time when there has been increasing public anger at earmarks, which have become to be seen by many as representative of a broken political system. Due to a series of scandals in recent years, the long-standing practice of earmarks is becoming increasingly unpopular.

But the Senate rejected the change, prompting the question of whether it would ultimately have any effectiveness.

The rule change wasn't voted on by the House, it was simply agreed to by Reps. David Obey (D., Wisc.) and Norm Dicks (D., Wash.). Obey is the chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee and Dicks is the incoming chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Dicks is succeeding that panel's longtime chairman, Rep. Jack Murtha (D., Pa.), who died last month.

The change won't affect Senate spending bills. That could mean that when House and Senate lawmakers meet to iron out differences in their versions of spending legislation, the final bills that are signed into law could still include earmarks benefiting for-profit entities.

In a strongly worded statement, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D., Hawaii) said the policy "seems to suggest that for-profit entities are corrupt and nonprofit entities are above reproach."

Inouye said that by cracking down on earmarks, lawmakers are effectively ceding authority over spending decisions to the executive branch.

The measure is primarily aimed at the Department of Defense. Businesses will still be able to compete for federal contracts but the Pentagon will determine who wins the bids, not lawmakers.

A House Republican aide said that defense spending bills already include a provision that requires the Pentagon to put contracts through a competitive bidding process.

In a joint statement, Obey and Dicks said had the ban been in effect last year, there would have been 1,000 fewer earmarks.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) applauded the move, saying it would limit the influence of corporate lobbyists on members of Congress.

The move comes as House Republicans are set to convene a meeting of the party's lawmakers Thursday to consider their policy on earmarks. Rep. Jeff Flake (R., Ariz.) has strongly advocated the party agree to give up earmarks altogether. He is expected to push his colleagues to pledge to do so at Thursday's meeting.

In the Senate, Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) has made it a personal crusade to end earmarks. He has been joined in his opposition to the practice by a number of newer senators including Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.), who has broken with her party on several occasions to oppose bills that have included substantial amounts of earmarks.

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