by Carrie Tian, policy intern  NEWS:

• The government unveiled its first-ever inventory of federal programs across 24 departments, each one with a link to the program's strategic goals. Politicians hailed the project for its possible aid in cutting down on duplication. (Government Executive)
• Marco Rubio may be drawing fire from Republicans of all stripes for his support of the immigration bill, but well-financed GOP groups are moving to cover for him, airing complimentary ads and urging party members to stop attacking one of their own. (New York Times)
• Paul Ryan is shoring up fundraising efforts for the Republican party, with 20 events left in 2013 alone. His exposure to top donors during his vice presidential bid gives him fundraising clout and could bolster a possible bid as speaker of the House. (POLITICO)
• Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes declared her candidacy for replacing Mitch McConnell in 2014. McConnell's supporters have already aired ads attacking Grimes as a cheerleader for Obama. (Washington Post)
• Guardian journalist Gleen Greenwald says there's another big NSA scoop coming shortly and that "the world will be shocked". The world wearily prepares for its shocking. (POLITICO)
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by Carrie Tian, policy intern NEWS:

• In order to combat the growing power of super PACs and nonprofits, states across the nation seek to raise campaign limits for individuals. 6 states have passed such legislation this year, with another eight considering similar bills. Proponents claim that individual contributions are more transparent, though critics fear the increased limits will further tilt the balance of power in favor of the moneyed. (Public Integrity)
• European allies are furious over revelations that the NSA has bugged EU offices and is collecting information on telephone and Internet connections, warning that the intrusions may throw a proposed trans-Atlantic trade treaty into jeopardy. (Spiegel)
• Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive, gave an interview about his receipt of a national-security letter and how he successfully sued the government, with the aid of the ACLU and EFF. (New Yorker)
• A law protecting whistleblowing defense contractors goes into effect today. The National Defense Authorization Act allows contractors to report waste or fraud directly to the office of the Defense Department’s inspector general, instead of their bosses. (Government Executive)
• Months before 2014 elections, senators are racking in money to supplement their war chests - and spending it, launching back and forth ad attacks early. (Roll Call)

by Carrie Tian, policy intern NEWS:

• Sen. John Cornyn came under fire a week ago for collecting three separate pensions and drawing a salary - but it seems he's not alone. Nearly 20% of members of Congress are collecting pensions on top of their salaries, most from their service at the local and state levels. (National Journal)
• The Army has blocked online access to the Guardian across all of its forces after the British-based newspaper broke the PRISM story. Military employees report being unable to click through to any of the newspaper's articles. A spokesperson said that this was a routine "network hygiene" practice for the DoD. (Monterey Bay Herald)
• Spurred by the conversation the Chinese government allowed its public to have about US cybermonitoring, a Chinese lawyer filed a public information request with the police to ask about China's surveillance programs. Cybersecurity experts doubt he will receive any meaningful answers to his questions. (New York Times)
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by Carrie Tian, policy intern NEWS:

• Obama kicked off his Africa tour with a visit to Senegal, where an online transparency platform called Sunu2012 sprang up in time for the nation's 2012 elections and has continued to monitor the government since. (techPresident)
• The current state of disarray of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity gives a window into the collapse of the century-old coal lobby. (National Journal)
• Well before Edward Markey had officially secured his US Senate seat, Massachusetts politicians were eyeing the House seat he'd be vacating. State Sen. Kathleen Clark had started fundraising and filed her candidacy paperwork on Feb. 19, and Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian followed suit on May 22. (Roll Call)
• Just hours after the Supreme Court struck down DOMA, political analysts were speculating on the impact of gay marriage on the national budget. Tax revenue would increase thanks to the "marriage penalty" for two income earners, but payouts for Social Security would increase. Medicaid and Medicare spending would actually decrease, as spousal assets would reduce eligibility for the means-based programs. (National Journal)
• The immigration bill's E-Verify amendment may have sailed through the Senate Judiciary Committee, but it's having a tougher time in the House, where Democrats are concerned about the lack of safeguards for mislabeled employees. (POLITICO)

by Carrie Tian, policy intern

by Carrie Tian, policy intern

by Carrie Tian, policy intern

by Carrie Tian, policy intern NEWS: The libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute held its annual fundraising dinner with Rand Paul as... View Article

by Carrie Tian, policy intern NEWS:

• The Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs may be neck and neck for the NBA championship, but in the political arena, it's a blowout. Spurs owner Peter Holt donated $500,000 during the 2012 election cycle, the vast majority going to Republicans. That's four times as much as Heat owner Mickey Arison, who split his money between the Dems and the GOP. (Public Integrity)
• Last year, Rhode Island's General Assembly overhauled their Access to Public Records Act to open up new records, but now state agencies are releasing less information than in years past. The trouble is because of the "balancing test", which asks that officials consider whether the information is a unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. Police clerks across the state are redacting information about incidents, even in arrest records, which have long been public. (Providence Journal)
• Lobbying coalitions are on the rise: these groups bring together competing companies to focus in on a specific issue, becoming a vital source of information for Congressional staff, before disbanding as soon as the legislation runs its course.  (The Hill)
• Associated Press President Gary Pruitt blasted the DoJ's seizure of the AP's phone records, saying their long-standing sources have clammed up. The AP seeks DoJ acknowledgement of the right of the press to get advance notice in subpoenas of records, a federal shield law, and to formally institutionalize that no journalist will be prosecuted for doing his job. (POLITICO)
• A new spending-data directive from the OMB mirrors the DATA Act that Congress is considering. Like the DATA Act, the OMB's directive requires agencies to establish unique identification numbers for financial awards, though the directive is weak in that it doesn't track awards across agencies and doesn't apply to procurement. (FCW)
• The powerful potato lobby is pushing for an amendment to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The USDA originally ruled that monthly WIC stipends could not be used to purchase white potatoes. A spokesperson for the National Potato Council, which wants to reverse that ruling, claims it's not a matter of money, but rather of correcting public misperceptions about the potato's nutritive value. (NPR)

by Carrie Tian, policy intern