GAO Reports on how earmarks hurt agencies
The GAO just released a report called ”Congressional Directives: Selected Agencies’ Processes for Responding to Funding Instructions,” or in layman’s terms - Earmarks: How They Detract from Agencies’ Priorities.
The agencies that the GAO looked at were the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Army Corps. of Engineers’ Civil Works programs.
CAGW pulled from each agency’s section called “Officials’ Views on Trends and Impact of Congressional Directives” and put them together into this Highlights of GAO Congressional Directives for a quick look at how earmarks affect agency priorities, including:
From DOD officials: “Congressional directives can sometimes place restrictions on the ability to retire some programs and to invest in others. Restrictions have an effect on the budget because they require the components to support an activity that was not in the budget.”
“A senior FTA [Federal Transit Administration] official also noted that congressional directives may result in the displacement of projects that FTA views as being a higher priority and ready for implementation with projects that are a lower priority for FTA.”
There is much more!
You can read the whole .pdf report here.
Filed under: Appropriations, Budget, Defense, Earmarks, Energy, In The News, Pork, Transportation
