On October 16 the House passed H.R. 5603, a bill that allows the Internal Revenue Service to suspend the tax exempt status of any group that is designated as a terrorist organization by Executive Order. Contributions to these groups would not be deductible. The bill also suspends due process rights of groups, stating that “no organization or other person may challenge a suspension….in any administrative or judicial proceeding…”. (See Section 1(a)(4).) An identical bill, S. 3082 has been introduced in the Senate by Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Charles Grassely (R-IA). The Senate is expected to take up the bill when it returns after the elections. OMB Watch is researching the due process issues involved in this legislation.

Stealth PAC Amendments Become Law (10/28/2002)
Congress approved a compromise bill just before its fall recess exempting state and local PACs from reporting requirements under the Stealth PAC law of 2000 and requiring data from reports to be made available on the Internet in a searchable format. President Bush signed the bill into law a week later.

Church Based PAC Formed (10/28/2002)
"Margin of Victory," a new political action committee dedicated to turning out Christian voters, has been formed as a political committee exempt under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, which governs PACs. The PAC’s goal is to mobilize Christian voters and “challenge pastors to educate and call their congregations to elect Godly leaders to Congress.” Margin of Victory is sponsored by America 21, a 501(c)(4) organization “whose Mission is to educate, engage, and mobilize Christians to influence national policy at every level.” The effort is a response to the defeat of legislation in the House that would have allowed religious congregations to endorse candidates and spend money on partisan campaign activities.

Report Shows Bush Administration "Hostile" to Regulation (10/28/2002)
The Bush administration showed a "pre-determined hostility" toward regulation in reviewing, and in some cases weakening, environmental protections adopted under President Clinton, according to a new report, entitled "Rewriting the Rules," released by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee.

Anti-Regulatory Studies Found Deceptive (10/28/2002)
A series of influential studies purporting to show that federal regulation is broadly irrational are based on data that is highly misleading and frequently manufactured to fit a preconceived point of view, according to an investigation by Richard Parker, a law professor at the University of Connecticut, who presented his findings October 17 during a conference of the American Bar Association.

Rahall, Dingell Express Concern with Bush Environmental Rollbacks (10/28/2002)
A letter to President Bush from leading congressional Democrats blasts the administration for undermining and dismantling the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), considered the Magna Carta of environmental law.

Ideology Trumps Science at HHS, Letter Charges (10/28/2002)
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is suppressing scientific information on contraception and abortion, and apparently increasing audits of nonprofit grantees that disagree with the administration’s “abstinence-only” program, according to a recent letter from Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and a group of House Democrats to Tommy Thompson, secretary of HHS.

FDA Commissioner Finally Confirmed (10/28/2002)
Almost two years after President Bush took office, Mark B. McClellan -- a top health policy adviser to the president and brother of White House spokesman Scott McClellan -- has been confirmed to serve as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

A Call for Action Against Secrecy (10/28/2002)
Concerned about the current administration?s preference for policies of secrecy and information restriction OMB Watch recently issued a working paper entitled "The Bush Administration?s Secrecy Policy: A Call to Action to Protect Democratic Values" detailing the growth of secrecy in government, its impact and current public opinion on increased secrecy. The paper concludes with a call to action that emphasizes the need to build a coordinated campaign that not only addresses the increased secrecy, but also promotes strengthening the public's right-to-know.


Judge Orders White House to Turn Over Energy Task Force Documents, Again (10/28/2002)
In one of several lawsuits brought against the Bush administration for its failure to disclose key documents relating to its energy task force, a federal judge ordered the Bush administration to turn over the documents for the second time; the same ruling was previously made in August, according to the Washington Post.