The controversy began in July, when a New York Times article quoted the head of the CFC, Mara Patermaster, saying that each of the thousands of nonprofits participating in the CFC has an affirmative obligation to check their employees against government lists. In August the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) withdrew from the program in protest.
OMB Watch opted to remain a participant and issued a statement calling on CFC to change its policy. The statement said,
"This active obligation is misguided, unduly burdensome, and vulnerable to abuse for political purposes. The lists are notoriously fraught with inaccuracies and ambiguities, so there is no way to verify whether a name on the list is actually the individual encountered (they may coincidentally have the same name or may be using a different name but still be the person listed). Government watch lists change continually, so charities would have to check them continually, which they don't have time and resources to do. Compliance is simply impossible."
In September OMB Watch wrote a letter to CFC seeking clarification and asking a series of practical questions about the certification requirement. To date there has been no response and CFC has failed to issue any guidance for charities currently preparing applications for the coming year. Applications are due Jan. 31. 2005.
The ACLU is acting as lead counsel in the suit. See box at right for the full list of participating plaintiffs and their statements.