TGIF! Here is Friday’s look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events.

News Roundup:

Government

• House Oversight Chair Darrell Issa questioned CFPB head Elizabeth Warren on an “inadequate” repsonse to FOIA requests in a heated hearing yesterday. (The Washington Examiner)

• CIO Vivek Kundra unveiled a seventeen-member task force charged with eliminating unnecessary government websites and determining how to prevent future “bloating of government URLs.” (GovTech)

• The House Appropriations Committee will require the GAO to investigate and report what steps have been taken to prevent mistakes after the Office recently released an error-ridden report on for-profit colleges. (The Daily Caller)

• The GAO is encouraging tipsters to come forward with knowledge about government waste. (ExecutiveGov)

Revolving Door

• Opinion: the new rule proposed by FINRA designed to protect against the revolving door does not go far enough. (POGO)

Lobbying

• Wall Street lobbyists have put their influence tools into full gear, seeking to ease the impact of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul on their investment bank clients (The New York Times).

• Wachovia lobbied heavily for its loans to be bought up in TARP. (Charlotte Observer)

• Opinion: the current legislative standstill in Congress should make issue groups re-examine the value of their influence and lobbyist efforts. (The Hill)

Campaign Finance

• It is still up in the air whether presidential candidates in 2012 will reveal the names of their top “bundlers,” individuals who reach their maximum donation levels and turn to their networks for other contributions, submitting all the checks in one bundle. (OpenSecrets)

Ethics

• Rep. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) stepped down from the House Ethics Committee yesterday due to her upcoming senatorial election campaign, noting that the non-partisan role of the Ethics committee could conflict with her bid. (Roll Call)

Technology

• In a House Oversight hearing on federal information technology yesterday, CIO Vivek Kundra identified what he considers the ten principles of federal transparency. (Sunlight Blog)

Access to Information

• A University of Michigan professor is demanding that the FBI and CIA respond to his FOIA requests for information about the government secretly investigating him due to his outspoken criticism of President Bush. (Courthouse News)

State and Local

• Dozens of state legislatures adopted anti-environmental regulation bills that were authored by the American Legislative Exchange Council. (The LA Times)

Relevant committee hearings scheduled for 7/15:

• None.

Relevant bills introduced:

• None.

Transparency events scheduled for 7/15:

• None.