Recently, there has been increased debate about the nature and growing number of earmarks. This report gives an understanding of how agencies respond to congressional funding directions by examining how exec. agencies translate these directions from Congress into governmental activities. There have been calls for earmark reform in response to concerns about the nature and number of earmarks. This report analyzed info. on 4 agencies¿ processes (i.e., the DoD, DoE, DoT, and U.

S. Army Corps of Eng.). The report identified their processes for: identifying and categorizing congressional directives; tracking, implementing, and reporting on congressional directives; and agency officials¿ views on the trends and impact of congressional directives. Illus.