Oversight

The SEC Looks to Expand Cyber Coverage

The Securities and Exchange Commission is taking a new look at how it asks publicly traded companies to disclose cybersecurity risks.

Oversight

The Special IG for Afghanistan Shares Advice on How to Spend Aid Money Well

More recommendations will come in the watchdog’s quarterly report next week.   

Oversight

Expert: ARPA Could Better Fight Racial Wealth Inequality

The American Rescue Plan Act could do more to tackle racial wealth inequality, argues professor Goldburn P. Maynard Jr.

Oversight

Biden Administration’s Rapid-Test Rollout Doesn’t Easily Reach Those Who Need It Most

Two rapid-testing initiatives the Biden administration released in the past week are inaccessible to some residents of multifamily housing, people who don’t speak English well, or those without internet access.

Oversight

Watchdog: FDA Needs a Central Workforce Plan to Help Meet Public Health Mission

The agency faces stiff competition from private sector employers, said the Government Accountability Office. 

Oversight

How Better Airline Technology Could Minimize Flight Disruptions

Updated algorithms and increased data sharing could improve flight reliability amid a fragile system, scientists say.

Oversight

Lawmakers Question Agencies on Implementation of Customer Service Act 

The law requires agencies to accept digital signatures to authorize congressional offices to help constituents.

Oversight

A High-Risk Medical Device Didn’t Meet Federal Standards. The Government Paid Millions for More.

For years after federal inspectors found serious problems with the HeartWare heart pump, agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services continued paying to implant it in patients.

Oversight

As Patients Fell Ill With COVID-19 Inside Hospitals, Government Oversight Fell Short

A KHN investigation finds that hospitals with high rates of COVID-19 patients who didn’t have the diagnosis when they were admitted have rarely been held accountable due to multiple gaps in government oversight.

Oversight

The Low-and-Slow Approach to Food Safety Reform Keeps Going Up in Smoke

The U.S. has one agency that regulates cheese pizza and another that oversees pepperoni pizza. Efforts to fix the food safety system have stalled again and again.

Oversight

This Scientist Created a Rapid Test Just Weeks Into the Pandemic. Here’s Why You Still Can’t Get It.

Irene Bosch developed a quick, inexpensive COVID-19 test in early 2020. The Harvard-trained scientist already had a factory set up. But she was stymied by an FDA process experts say made no sense.

Oversight

Reversed Employee Suspension at USDA Leads to New Policy on Employee Publishing Rights

Employee successfully challenges an agency's attempt to prohibit her from conducting certain activities when off the clock.

Oversight

Agencies Are Getting Better at Using the Defense Production Act for Pandemic Response

A watchdog report shows progress just as the Biden administration plans to increase reliance on the law to combat the omicron variant.

Oversight

Lawmakers Propose Reforms Following ‘Flagrant Mismanagement’ of Trump Hotel Lease

Oversight of the lease has been the subject of controversy for years from lawmakers, government watchdogs and outside groups.

Oversight

Republicans Try to Undo Health Care Worker Vaccine Mandate

This is similar to the attempt to block the private business vaccine rule. 

Oversight

Liberals ‘Need to Get On the Defense Committees,’ If They Want Change

“At this point, I think defense is just not that important to progressives one way or the other,” said one expert after Democrats came away from negotiations empty handed.

Oversight

White House Releases 'Unprecedented’ Guidance to Agencies on Cooperating With Watchdogs

Strengthening communication and establishing liaisons for inspectors general offices are some of the new action items for agency leaders.