{
  "id": "RL34648",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL34648",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 362325,
      "date": "2008-11-17",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T03:02:05.198222",
      "title": "Bush Administration Policy Regarding Congressionally Originated Earmarks: An Overview",
      "summary": "During the 110th Congress, the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the George W. Bush Administration have defined terms like congressional earmark, congressionally directed spending item, and earmark, and have provided some direction for how congressionally originated earmarks, according to these definitions, are to be handled. This report focuses on Bush Administration policy regarding earmarks originated by Congress and related issues. Specific definitions for the term earmark (and related terms, like congressional earmark, presidential earmark, and others) vary considerably and are controversial. Nevertheless, all of the terms relate to the use of discretion to allocate particularized benefits to one or more specific purposes, entities, or geographic areas. Some earmarks have the force of law, and others do not. Practices like earmarking have been used for decades, if not centuries, to make decisions regarding the allocation of public resources, but concerns also have been expressed. At the same time, Congress, its Members, and Presidents have asserted the prerogatives of their constitutional and statutory authorities and pursued their budget policy preferences.\nIn January 2008, the President announced he would veto future appropriations bills that did not cut the number and funding of Administration-defined earmarks by half, relative to FY2008. The President also issued Executive Order (E.O.) 13457, which directed that agencies \u201cshould not\u201d fund non-statutory earmarks, except under some conditions. OMB subsequently directed agencies on how to implement the E.O. after enactment of FY2009 continuing and regular appropriations. These are the latest in a series of developments that began in January 2007, when the President proposed that Congress should (1) cut the number and funding of congressionally originated earmarks by at least half for FY2008 appropriations, relative to FY2005, and (2) place them only in statutory text, not report language. In January 2007, the Administration issued its own definition of earmark, whose language (and perhaps meaning) evolved over time in Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memoranda. A final definition appears to have been established in E.O. 13457, but its meaning probably is informed by the evolution and contents of previously articulated definitions. Later, OMB established an \u201cEarmarks\u201d website, containing a database of Administration-identified earmarks, to track congressional action. Potential related issues for Congress involve, generally, roles and responsibilities for Congress, the President, agencies, and the public in the U.S. political system; defining, identifying, and overseeing earmarks; the executive order; the \u201cEarmarks\u201d website and database; and potential representational consequences.\nThis report emphasizes analysis of E.O. 13457. For a legal analysis of E.O. 13457, see CRS Report RL34373, Earmarks Executive Order: Legal Issues, by Thomas J. Nicola and T. J. Halstead. This report will be updated as warranted and at the conclusion of the George W. Bush Administration.",
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      "typeId": "REPORTS",
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      "topics": []
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc795680/",
      "id": "RL34648_2008Sep04",
      "date": "2008-09-04",
      "retrieved": "2016-01-13T14:26:20",
      "title": "Bush Administration Policy Regarding Congressionally Originated Earmarks: An Overview",
      "summary": "This report focuses on Bush Administration policy regarding earmarks originated by Congress and related issues. Specific definitions for the term earmark (and related terms, like congressional earmark, presidential earmark, and others) vary considerably and are controversial.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Congress",
          "name": "Congress"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Appropriations",
          "name": "Appropriations"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Budgets",
          "name": "Budgets"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "American Law",
    "Appropriations",
    "Constitutional Questions",
    "Energy Policy",
    "Intelligence and National Security"
  ]
}