Keep reading for today’s look at #OpenGov news, events, and analysis including a showdown between House Oversight and the White House, more Afghan election turmoil, and new open law and legislation efforts at the municipal level.

National News

• Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) ended a House Oversight committee hearing on the operations of the White House Office of Political Strategy and Outreach yesterday after its director, David Simas, defied the committee’s subpoena. (Politico)
• As part of its ongoing investigation into alleged IRS targeting of conservative political groups, the Justice Department announced yesterday that they were planning to investigate the circumstances surrounding Lois Lerner’s lost email records. (Wall Street Journal)
• The House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation that would allow the Federal Register to be distributed electronically rather than on paper. The effort comes as part of a larger push by the Government Printing Office to bring publication of documents from the analog to the digital. (Fierce Government)
• A backlog of over 70,000 Medicare applications in Georgia has prompted officials at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to begin an investigation into the holdup. While the Healthcare.gov website has created some problems in the transfer of data from the federal to state systems, others contend that a lack of investment in new technologies and IT infrastructure is also at fault. (Government Technology)

International News

• The plan to manage the recount in Afghanistan’s presidential elections has already hit its first snag. Hours before the recount was set to begin, candidates were unable to agree whether the recount would be managed by Afghanistan’s election commission, which has been accused of rigging the election, or an international committee. (Washington Post)
• The city of Surrey (Canada) will launch a massive open data initiative and hopes to make over 300 datasets, from crime statistics to city council spending, online and available in the next year. (Surrey Now)

State and Local News

• A new coalition of open government advocates and officials in municipal government in Boston, Chicago, D.C., New York, and San Francisco launched the Free Law Founders project, a collaboration that seeks to make municipal law and legislative data free and accessible online for all citizens. (GovExec)
• California State Controller John Chiang announced that California’s wage data for the just under 400,000 employees of the University of California and California State University systems is now online. (TechWire)
• Rhode Island lobbyist and former Rep. Ray Rickman disclosed that a $10,000 personal loan to former House Majority Leader Gordon Fox, who resigned earlier this year after an FBI and IRS raid on his office, is still outstanding. Officials are planning to investigate whether Rickman may have deliberately failed to report the loan. (Washington Times)

Events Today

• Examining the Justice Department’s Response to the IRS Targeting Scandal. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Thurs., 7/17. 9:00 AM.  2154 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

Do you want to track transparency news? You can follow the progress of relevant bills, court cases, and regulations using Scout. You can also get Today in #OpenGov sent directly to your preferred news reader. If you would like suggest an event, please email mrumsey@sunlightfoundation.com by 7 am on the Monday prior to the event.