Two recent reports by the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), Neil Barofsky, provide useful information and stand in sharp contrast to the Treasury Department's attempt to provide comparable transparency for the program, also known as TARP. One report clearly presents existing TARP information, while the other supplies new data that Treasury should be providing. In both cases, the reports highlight changes Treasury should make to how it conducts and presents TARP data.
OMB Watch recently submitted comments and recommendations on needed reforms to the federal contracting process in response to a presidential memorandum issued earlier in 2009. The Presidential Memorandum on Government Contracting directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to both collaborate with federal agencies to review existing contracts and to develop new guidance to help reform future government contracting.
The House passed legislation (H.R. 2920) on July 22 that would reinstate statutory "pay-as-you-go" (PAYGO) budgeting rules, which were allowed to expire in 2002.
On July 22, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for withholding White House visitor logs. The logs pertain to individuals who visited the White House to discuss health care policy. Some see the administration’s refusal to disclose the logs as a continuation of Bush administration secrecy.
On July 20, a federal district court judge ruled that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) committed fraud while attempting to get a fifteen-year-old case dismissed on state secrets grounds.
Troubling national trends show increases in reproductive health problems as the widespread use of certain chemicals has increased dramatically. A new analysis of available data makes several recommendations for U.S. chemicals policy to address the growing health concerns and potential links to toxic chemicals. Among the recommendations is a call for greater public disclosure of chemical safety information, increased federal research on safer chemical substitutes, and removing political influence from assessments of chemical safety.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has placed a hold on the nomination of Cass Sunstein, President Obama's pick to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). News of Cornyn's hold emerged July 22 – one week after Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) lifted his hold on the nomination.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publicly committed to emphasizing environmental justice issues at a recent meeting of the agency's National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC). EPA officials, including Administrator Lisa Jackson, described to the council ways in which the agency intends to reflect environmental justice concerns in the future as EPA formulates rules and emphasizes enforcement.
On June 25, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a bill that increases funding for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) in FY 2010 and drops some speech restrictions on legal aid grant recipients that have been in place since 1996. The Senate version of the bill increases legal aid services by $10 million over FY 2009 levels, but it contains $35 million less than the Obama administration's request. The House version of the bill has $40 million more than the Senate version, but it continues a number of speech restrictions dropped by the Senate bill.
On July 24, Peter Orszag, the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), released further guidance that amends restrictions on lobbying for Recovery Act funds. The document states that it is meant "to supersede all prior written OMB and other agency guidance on the subject." Despite the adjustments within the guidance, which advocates note is a significant step in the right direction, many say the changes do not go far enough to prompt disclosure of all lobbying and other contacts associated with Recovery Act spending.
