(Washington, D.C.) – The nation’s premier taxpayer watchdog group, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today urged President-Elect Barack Obama to retain and enforce the executive order that President Bush signed on January 29, 2008 entitled Protecting American Taxpayers From Government Spending on Wasteful Earmarks.

Press reports indicate that President-Elect Obama’s transition team has begun reviewing the hundreds of executive orders that were signed during President Bush’s eight years in office to determine which he will rescind and which he will retain.  The Executive Order on earmarks directed agency budget officials not to “commit, obligate, or expend funds on the basis of earmarks included in any non-statutory source, including requests in reports of committees of the Congress or other congressional documents, or communications from or on behalf of Members of Congress, or any other non-statutory source…”  Tens of thousands of wasteful and unaccountable congressional earmarks have been listed in committee and conference reports rather than in the actual statutory language of the bill.  The Congressional Research Service has determined that spending items contained in the supporting documentation do not have the force of law. 

The second part of the Executive Order mandated that “all written communications from the Congress, or a House, committee, Member, officer, or staff thereof, recommending that funds be committed, obligated, or expended on any earmark shall be made publicly available on the Internet by the receiving agency, not later than 30 days after receipt of such communication, unless otherwise specifically directed by the head of the agency, without delegation, after consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to preserve appropriate confidentiality between the executive and legislative branches.”    

“President-Elect Obama promised to reduce congressional earmarking to 1994 levels, which would mean a drop from $17.2 billion in fiscal year 2008 to $7.8 billion.  The preservation and enforcement of the Executive Order would send a clear, strong signal that President-Elect Obama is serious about cutting runaway congressional earmarking and enhancing transparency in the congressional appropriations process,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz.  “This one should be an easy choice for a new president who was elected on a promise of change.”  Along with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), President-Elect Obama co-sponsored the so-called “Google Government” bill, which directed the Office of Management and Budget to establish a searchable database for all government grants and contracts.  President Bush signed that bill into law on September 26, 2006 and the information can be viewed at www.usaspending.gov.  

                       Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.