[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 4 (Monday, February 4, 2008)]
[Pages 129-130]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Executive Order 13457--Protecting American Taxpayers From Government 
Spending on Wasteful Earmarks

January 29, 2008

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and 
the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as 
follows:
    Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the Federal Government to be 
judicious in the expenditure of taxpayer dollars. To ensure the proper 
use of taxpayer funds that are appropriated for Government programs and 
purposes, it is necessary that the number and cost of earmarks be 
reduced, that their origin and purposes be transparent, and that they be 
included in the text of the bills voted upon by the Congress and 
presented to the President. For appropriations laws and other 
legislation enacted after the date of this order, executive agencies 
should not 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, except when required by law or when an agency has 
itself determined a project, program, activity, grant, or other 
transaction to have merit under statutory criteria or other merit-based 
decisionmaking.
    Sec. 2. Duties of Agency Heads. (a) With respect to all 
appropriations laws and other legislation enacted after the date of this 
order, the head of each agency shall take all necessary steps to ensure 
that:
(i)          agency decisions to commit, obligate, or expend funds for 
            any earmark are based on the text of laws, and in 
            particular, are not based on language in any report of a 
            committee of Congress, joint explanatory statement of a 
            committee of conference of the Congress, statement of 
            managers concerning a bill in the Congress, or any other 
            non-statutory statement or indication of views of the 
            Congress, or a House, committee, Member, officer, or staff 
            thereof;
(ii)         agency decisions to commit, obligate, or expend funds for 
            any earmark are based on authorized, transparent, statutory 
            criteria and merit-based decision making, in the manner set 
            forth in section II of OMB Memorandum M-07-10, dated 
            February 15, 2007, to the extent consistent with applicable 
            law; and
(iii)        no oral or written communications concerning earmarks shall 
            supersede statutory criteria, competitive awards, or merit-
            based decisionmaking.
    (b) An agency shall not consider the views of a House, committee, 
Member, officer, or staff of the Congress with respect to commitments, 
obligations, or expenditures to carry out any earmark unless such views 
are in writing, to facilitate consideration in accordance with section 
2(a)(ii) above. 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.
    (c) Heads of agencies shall otherwise implement within their 
respective agencies the policy set forth in section 1 of this order, 
consistent with such instructions as the Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget may prescribe.
    (d) The head of each agency shall upon request provide to the 
Director of the Office of Management and Budget information about 
earmarks and compliance with this order.
    Sec. 3. Definitions. For purposes of this order:
    (a) The term ``agency'' means an executive agency as defined in 
section 105 of title 5, United States Code, and the United States Postal 
Service and the Postal Regulatory Commission, but shall exclude the 
Government Accountability Office; and

[[Page 130]]

    (b) the term ``earmark'' means funds provided by the Congress for 
projects, programs, or grants where the purported congressional 
direction (whether in statutory text, report language, or other 
communication) circumvents otherwise applicable merit-based or 
competitive allocation processes, or specifies the location or 
recipient, or otherwise curtails the ability of the executive branch to 
manage its statutory and constitutional responsibilities pertaining to 
the funds allocation process.
    Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be 
construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i)          authority granted by law to an agency or the head thereof; 
            or
(ii)         functions of the Director of the Office of Management and 
            Budget relating to budget, administrative, or legislative 
            proposals.
    (b) This order shall be implemented in a manner consistent with 
applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or 
benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, by 
any party against the United States, its agencies, instrumentalities, or 
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 January 29, 2008.

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 9:02 a.m., January 31, 
2008]

Note: This Executive order was published in the Federal Register on 
February 1.