Tag Archive: Government Oversight

House Oversight Committee to Mark Up a Slew of Transparency Measures

by Matt Rumsey

policy

Mar 18, 2013 1:15 pm

This Wednesday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is slated to markup a number of important transparency measures. The meeting, scheduled... View Article

Testifying Before Full House Oversight Committee on Federal Spending Transparency

by Ellen Miller Jun 13, 2011 1:28 pm

Tomorrow morning I will be testifying before the full House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about the Sunlight Foundation’s work... View Article

Testifying Before House Committee on Clearspending

by Ellen Miller Mar 11, 2011 11:28 am

This morning I testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s Subcommittee on Technology and Information Policy about... View Article

Transition Recommendations

by Ellen Miller Oct 20, 2008 5:11 pm

Lots of folks are starting to think about the transition to a new Administration. We know of at least 2... View Article

Lobbying Blowback

by Paul Blumenthal Jul 25, 2008 12:48 pm

The food industry’s heavy lobbying over the past few years to reduce regulation and paperwork has turned into a “monkey’s... View Article

Federal Subsidy Programs Soar (in Number, that is)

by Bill Allison Oct 24, 2006 11:13 am

If this keeps up much longer, our friends at OMB Watch are going to have their hand full maintaining the grants side of FedSpending.org. Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute finds that the number subsidy programs listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance has skyrocketed--from 1,013 programs in 1985 to 1,390 in 1995 to 1,696 in 2006.

Imam at a Pork Roast:

by Paul Blumenthal May 3, 2006 10:49 am

The Washington Post writes a profile of anti-pork Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-OK) crusade to cut earmarks out of the emergency spending supplemental before the Senate. Only one of his amendments were ultimately successful and the lack of majority support from either party led him to withdraw many of his amendments challenging the earmarks. One of his challenges was to a $500 million earmark to aid rebuilding of a Northrop Grumman shipbuilding yard in Mississippi. The Wall Street Journal reports that the vote was 51-47 with both parties evenly dividing. One of the few successul amendments aimed at controlling spending was introduced by Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and co-sponsord by Coburn. The amendment restricts the number of no-bid contracts for rebuilding in the Gulf Coast and was agreed to with a 98-0 vote.

No Known Congressional Report, Inquiry into Abramoff and Lawmakers:

by Paul Blumenthal Apr 13, 2006 12:13 pm

CongressDaily PM reports that the Senate Indian Affairs Committee will finally issue a report on Jack Abramoff and his bilking of Indian tribes in the next two months. However, the report will not touch on Abramoff's dealings with lawmakers or executive branch officials meaning that "two years after news of the activities of Abramoff and his allies first came to light, there is no known congressional inquiry into whether lawmakers or administration officials took improper or illegal actions on their behalf." Congress has essentially given up its authority to investigate the matter and left it up to career Justice Department investigators and prosecutors.

More News:

by Paul Blumenthal Mar 30, 2006 12:01 pm

House Republicans stripped 527-reform out of a proposed lobbying reform bill, according to The Hill.

In a sign of the seriousness of the case against him, Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA), under investigation for alleged bribery in an African telecommunications deal, is selling his Capitol Hill house, according to Roll Call.

Speaking of selling houses, the Washington Post reports that Rep. Jim Ryun is denying that he got a sweetheart deal when the U.S. Family Network sold him their Capitol Hill house at well below market value.

Knight Ridder reports that the Pentagon has investigated itself for spending money “like Paris Hilton at a shoe sale” and found its “prime vendor” purchasing program “sound, even though it overpaid millions of dollars for common kitchen items.” The program “paid $20 a piece for plastic ice cube trays that previously had cost 89 cents and $81 each for coffee makers that it bought for years for $29.”

More News:

by Paul Blumenthal Mar 28, 2006 12:56 pm

The Hill reports that Melissa Bean’s (D-IL) “aggressive courting of K Street” is putting her challenger at a disadvantage in fundraising. The political director of the business lobby the Chamber of Commerce stated, “In Bean’s case, she has stepped out and has supported our agenda.” Bean is one of a handful of House Democrats who voted in favor of the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which was a huge victory for the business lobby.

Google has hired two lobbying firms, one bipartisan and another with close ties to Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman, as it enters the world of Washington politics, according to the New York Times. The internet powerhouse also plans to hire a Republican political director for a new political action committee and give campaign contributions to both Republicans and Democrats. The company currently has an image as a Democratic donor as almost every employee employee contribution in 2004 went to the Democrats.

Lobbying reform appears to be back on track in the Senate as Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) agreed to remove an amendment that sought to prohibit a Dubai company from taking over control of a number of ports. According to Roll Call, the Senate appears ready to hear the bill and one of the bill’s principal authors Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) stated, “If they’ll give me a day, I can do it.” On the House side chances for reform look questionable as the Republican caucus cannot decide what direction to take nor which proposals to consider.

Ralph Reed is getting off the hook for his alleged violations of lobbying laws in Texas because the two-year statute of limitations had expired, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Travis County Attorney David Escamilla said, “There’s smoke. And we have the tools, via grand juries and subpoenas, to go find out if there's fire. But all of the smoke relates to a time period I can't do anything about.”

In a new report by the Minority Office of the House Committee on Government Reform the second Iraqi oil contract for Halliburton comes under intense scrutiny and criticism for “intentional overcharging,” “inadequate cost reporting,” and a “refusal to cooperate.”

The Associated Press reports that, “The former Republican leader of the Wisconsin Assembly was sentenced Monday to 60 days in jail for putting a party fundraiser on the state payroll.” Steven Foti is the “third former state legislator to be sentenced among five convicted in an investigation that began in 2001. Two of the others are Democrats, and two are Republicans.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, the White House has pulled the nomination of David Sanborn to run the U.S. Maritime Administration. Sanborn was previously the former director of operations for Europe and Latin America for Dubai Ports World and his nomination became a key point of attack for critics of the deal for DP World to take over American port operations. The article notes, “Sen. Bill Nelson (D., Fla.) said he would block it until he learned more about Mr. Sanborn's involvement in the deal that gave operation of some U.S. ports to DP World, and about DP World's pending sale of those operations.”