President Bush Takes Tough Action on Earmarks

The President's State of the Union Address will advance several policy initiatives based on sound Republican principles.

Setting the stage for tonight's speech, the White House this morning announced the President is taking action to fight wasteful earmarks in federal spending. Specifically, the President will issue an Executive Order telling federal agencies to ignore earmarks that appear in "report language" accompanying the budget but does not appear in the legislation itself.

The key difference is that "report language" is not voted on by Congress, and therefore avoids most public scrutiny.

Equally important, the President indicated he will veto any appropriations bill that does not cut the number and cost of earmarks in half. While additional steps can always be taken, this is serious action in getting federal spending under control, and restoring public confidence in our federal institutions.