NEWS ROUNDUP: A longtime defense industry lobbyist, John Bonsell, has a new job as the head of the Republican staff... View Article

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• The open data community may benefit from a central, neutral entry point to open data resources. To this end, the Web Foundation is working on the Open Data Directory. (Open Knowledge Blog)
• Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced a bill that would tackle the tricky problem of disclosing the flood of political money that has emerged in the past few years. The bill focuses on wealthy donors, corporations, and unions and its sponsors think that it hits donors on both sides of the political aisle. (NPR, Roll Call)
• South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham wasn't up for reelection in 2012, but he still managed to raise more money from lobbyists than all but one other member of Congress. New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, who was running, raised slightly more. (Public Integrity)
• A number of documents signed by Attorney General Erich Holder and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper that invoked the state secrets privilege were made public through a lawsuit this week. The suit focuses on the "no-fly list" kept by the US government to keep suspected terrorists from flying to or within the states. (POLITICO)
• The political group launched by former Rep. Gabby Giffords to fight for greater gun control is going on the attack with negative ads for the first time. Their initial ad buy, which will target Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY), is worth a few hundred thousand dollars. (Washington Post)
• Text messages sent by elected officials in the District of Columbia on their government funded phones are currently in a Freedom of Information grey area. FOIA requests to the DC Council and Mayor's office for text messages were denied because neither body maintains or has access to the text messages, the exist on the phone's and in whatever form the cell carrier maintains. (DCist)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• In sad news: Common Cause President and former member of Congress Bob Edgar passed away yesterday at the age of 69. Edgar served in the House in the 1970's and 1980's and had led Common Cause since 2007. (Common Cause)
• Most first quarter lobbying reports have come in and the results are not great for an industry that was hoping to take advantage of congressional movement on a number of issues to boost revenues that have been lagging. While spending on lobbying was down overall, gun groups, defense contractors, oil companies, and Facebook bucked the trend and boosted spending. (Roll Call, The Hill, Public Integrity)
• News Corp will start disclosing its corporate political contributions to shareholders as part of the settlement in a shareholder lawsuit alleging the company did not do enough to investigate its phone hacking scandal. (Roll Call)
• With the addition of Max Baucus to the rolls of retiring Senators the group is collectively holding more than $10 million in campaign cash. Baucus, whose retirement announcement came somewhat out of the blue, has about half of that money. Tom Harkin of Iowa is also sitting on a serious $2.3 million. (Public Integrity)
• Facebook's lobbying continued on an upward trend during the first quarter of 2013. The Internet giant spent more than $2.4 million between January and March, significantly more than during the same period last year. (The Hill)
• Billionaire New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg cannon-balled into the national political spending pool last quarter, boosting his super PAC and Mayors Against Illegal Guns. By contrast, the company that made him a very rich man, Bloomberg LP, has been hesitant to spend large sums on lobbying, or file their disclosure reports on time, recently. (Roll Call)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• The Philippine Department of Agriculture is embracing the message of transparency being spread by their president with a new open data portal. The portal aims to raise public awareness of the department's projects and includes budget data, photos, and mapping features.  (Future Gov)
• A new proposal from the European Commission would require companies to publicly disclose information about their anti-bribery and corruption efforts. The proposal would target some 16,000 European companies that have at least 500 employees. (TrustLaw)
• A prominent Russian blogger and political activist who exposed corruption in the United Russia party is facing up to ten years in prison on charges of corruption that independent reviewers have called "laughably bogus." Aleksei Navalny, who got his start advising a provincial governor, exposed millions of dollars in corruption and led opposition to the United Russia part in recent elections. (Tech President)
• A data disclosure bill working its way through the California legislature has attracted some negative attention from big tech firms like Facebook and Google. The bill would require companies to provide customers with any personal information that the company holds about them upon request and is similar to laws that are already in effect in Europe. (Ars Technica)
• The Chamber of Commerce pulled up slightly on its rapid election year lobbying pace, but the group still managed to spend more than $10 million on lobbying during the first quarter of 2013. The Chamber has more than 40 in house lobbyists and 14 firms on retainer. (Roll Call)
• On Monday, Michelle Bachmann's former chief of staff, Andy Parrish, testified that Bachmann personally approved payments to an Iowa state senator as part of her presidential campaign despite rules against the practice. He also stated that those involved believed that they acted within the law. (National Journal)
• Companies that chose to file their first quarter lobbying reports early are generally showing spending increases. It's hard to say if the trend will continue as more companies file or if the overachievers were just eager to show off. (Roll Call)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• Despite still being allowed to file their campaign finance reports on paper, a growing number of Senators are embracing the future and filing electronically. John Tester, who introduced legislation that would require every Senator to e-file, is joined by a bipartisan group, although more Democrats have taken up the practice than Republicans. (Public Integrity)
• Steven VanRoekel, the US CIO, expressed his hopes that open data will become "the default setting of the federal government" during a speech last week. As part of his message he urged vendors and contractors to plan to collect and distribute data in ways that will allow agencies to make it available in free, non-proprietary formats. (Federal Computer Week)
• GOP Boy Wonder Marco Rubio's leadership PAC raised $650,000 during the first quarter. Insert played out joke here: the PAC spent more than $47,000 on bottled water. (Roll Call)
• I think everyone can agree that last week was tough on America's mental state, and through that our productivity. But, the string of tragic events didn't slow the train of political fundraising moving all across the nation. (Public Integrity)
• Mark Zuckerberg's FWD.us jumped into the immigration debate feet first last month, paying Republican lobbyists with the firm Fierce, Isakowitz & Blalock $30,000 in march to lobby on the issue. FWD.us also signed up Peck Madigan Jones, but the firm has yet to file their first quarter report. (Roll Call)
• The NRA is spending more than ever on federal lobbying as they face a massive push to reform some gun laws. They spent at least $800,000 in the first quarter to lobby on a number of bills in the House and Senate. (Public Integrity)
• President Obama raised more than $43 million to fund his second inaugural festivities, not quite reaching the high bar that he set with his first inaugural haul of $53 million. A number of major corporations and unions cut big checks. (The Hill, Washington Times)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• The House unanimously passed a bill that would give the GAO stronger investigative and audit authorities. The GAO Improvement Act will give the GAO broader access to sensitive agency information, allow it to copy records, and place witnesses under certain oaths. Many provisions had been part of the DATA act, which passed the House but failed in the Senate during the 112th Congress. (Government Executive)
• There are some not-so-shocking first quarter fundraising totals coming in from members of the House Financial Services Committee. Members of the committee can typically count on generous donations from banking interests. (Roll Call)
• San Francisco considers itself a leader in open data and the city is finally getting Bikeshare, a program that benefits significantly from robust open data. Companies will be able to build apps that track bikes, predict demand, and more. (GovFresh)
• One of the most important ways that government can boost communication with citizens is to present information in clear, easily understandable language. To this end, the Center for Plain Language has bestowed ClearMark awards on several federal agencies for their web and document design. (Government Executive)
• Journalists trying to gain access to legal documents and court orders in the Bradley Manning case were rebuffed by the military's highest appeals court earlier this week. The court ruled that it lacks the power to consider media challenges to other military judges' rulings on access to court materials. (POLITICO)
• The Digital Public Library of America is launching its new website and officially becoming an independent nonprofit today. Rather than hosting resources itself, the DPLA will provide open access to metadata about resources and links to holdings at libraries across the country. (Government Technology)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• It might take a few weeks for Senate campaign fundraising reports to make it to the FEC, but that isn't stopping members with good news from shouting it from the rooftops. Specifically, several vulnerable incumbent Democrats who are expecting well financed challengers in addition to massive independent expenditures against them announced heft hauls... (Roll Call)
• ...meanwhile, a number of vulnerable members of the House, as well as a few who are hoping to make a jump to the Senate in 2014, posted less than stellar numbers...  (Roll Call)
• ...finally, President Obama may never have to run in another election again, but he hasn't yet kicked the fundraising habit. The Obama presidential campaign pulled in over $4 million in the last quarter, leaving it with around $3 million on hand and owing slightly more in debts. (Roll Call)
• Senator Ron Wyden's long-time Chief of Staff Josh Kardon, who left the hill in 2011 for the Capitol Hill Consulting Group, is going to be plying his trade for ExxonMobil. Wyden chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. (The Hill)
• Organizing For America is testing out its lobbying operation in New York State, where it is pushing for significant campaign finance reforms. They don't plan to lobby elected officials directly, but will organize their significant member base in the state to influence the issue. (POLITICO)
• Google has been careful to avoid taking a public stance on CISPA, but that hasn't stopped them from trying to influence the bill behind the scenes. Recent lobbying disclosures indicate that Google has been working on the bill and House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI) has been quoted calling the company "supportive" of CISPA. (The Hill)
• The House released a 244 page report outlining every committee's plans to oversee the executive branch during the 113th Congress. Hot topics include IT, taxes, and more. (Federal Computer Week)