Oversight
Fixing accountability first: Another look at the Restore VA Accountability Act
COMMENTARY | If we really want to rid the VA (and the rest of the federal civil service) of poor performers, we need to find a middle ground between making every employee “at will” and defaulting to today’s status quo.
Oversight
House GOP demands info on Biden’s implementation of vaccine mandate for feds
A subcommittee is probing several agencies to look for "wrongdoing by government officials" during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Oversight
White House takes a crack at much-needed permitting reform
A new rule is the latest push by the Biden administration to address regulatory obstacles to developing clean energy.
Oversight
Is Congress on a witch hunt? 5 ways to judge whether oversight hearings are legitimate or politicized
Both Democrats and Republicans have consistently maintained that holding institutions accountable via rigorous oversight is among the most important functions of the legislature, but investigative work can be influenced by partisan considerations.
Oversight
Biden border policies ripped by House GOP as threats to impeach the Homeland Security secretary ramp up
House Republicans hold multiple hearings about immigration at Southern border as part of broader strategy to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas.
Oversight
‘We should not fear a government shutdown’: Far-right House members slam spending bills
Freedom Caucus members are urging more support from Speaker McCarthy and GOP leaders.
Oversight
This little-known federal regulator could crack down on fraudulent carbon offsets
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is "uniquely situated" to stop carbon market manipulation.
Oversight
A Scientist Said Her Research Could Help With Repatriation. Instead, It Destroyed Native Remains.
Federal agencies have awarded millions of dollars to scientific studies on Native American human remains, undermining the goals of NAGPRA as tribes fight for repatriation.
Oversight
Preparation for pandemics and natural disasters updated in bill passed by Senate panel
Legislation would increase accountability, transparency in how federal government helps state, local governments prepare for and respond to public health emergencies.
Oversight
House Dem sounds alarm about AI in political messaging
Rep. Yvette Clarke says 2024 “will be the first election cycle where AI-generated ads will be an integral part of how we do campaign advertising.”
Oversight
Get serious about data, US intelligence leaders tell agencies
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s new three-year plan aims to turn data-gathering from afterthought to key asset.
Oversight
The Biden administration is without a confirmed ethics czar
This is the first time in five years that the federal government's ethics agency has been without a confirmed director. Trump holdover Emory Rounds stepped down when his term expired earlier this month.
Oversight
Senate Appropriations Committee looks to claw back TMF funding
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan. — an original backer of the law that created the Technology Modernization Fund — called the move a “mistake.”
Oversight
How a combination of covid lawsuits and media coverage keeps misinformation churning
Even as the covid-19 pandemic wanes, litigation — whether about vaccines, masks, or a range of other public health policies made during the pandemic — isn’t about to end.
Oversight
Why Trump’s prosecution for keeping secret documents is lawful, constitutional, precedented, nonpartisan and merited
A former national security staffer, now a scholar of secrecy law, says criticisms of Trump’s federal indictment for hoarding classified documents are unfounded.
Oversight
‘Wrongdoing’ likely in USDA maintenance of the nation’s largest agricultural research facility, OSC says
Union leaders said a recent winter flood of a building at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center is just a symptom of systematic mismanagement of the facility.
Oversight
Want to track pandemic relief spending? Data problems make that difficult, committee says
“These challenges limit the degree of transparency into the use of pandemic relief funds,” a new report from the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee says.
Oversight
Alaska and 9 other states threaten to sue EPA over wood-burning stove standards
The agency's 2015 standards are inadequately administered and allow substandard devices to be certified, thus creating more pollution and deceiving consumers, court filing argues.
Oversight
Here’s how to fix the Pentagon’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office
The changes must go to the heart of the operation.
Oversight