Oversight and Accountability of the Intelligence Community Strengthened

On May 24, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence passed the 2008 Intelligence Authorization Bill, which includes a number of important open government and accountability measures. Having failed to pass an intelligence authorization bill for the previous two years, the full Senate is expected to consider the measure later this summer, and the House passed the bill 225-197 earlier in May.

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Improved FOIA on Hold

On April 12, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed the Openness Promotes Effectiveness in Our National (OPEN) Government Act, sponsored by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and John Cornyn (R-TX). However, the bill is now stuck after an unidentified senator placed an anonymous hold on the legislation that would improve the government's implementation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Increasing pressure is being brought to bear on the Senate to uncover the hold and move forward with the bill.

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Senate Watching Carefully as Risk Guidelines Reemerge

Two senators sent a letter to White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Rob Portman urging OMB to abandon its plans for government-wide risk assessment standards. The letter comes shortly after the White House indicated it may renew its efforts on finalizing the standards.

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States Battle Administration on Vehicle Emissions

At least 12 states are considering developing regulations for vehicle greenhouse gas emissions that would exceed federal standards. These states cannot promulgate the rules because the primary federal framework for air pollutant regulation, the Clean Air Act, reserves the federal government's right to block state efforts. Critics are charging the Bush administration with impeding the environmental progress of states and delaying meaningful regulation of vehicle emissions.

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Congress Passes Supplemental; Cease-Fire in the Capital

The struggle between Congress and the White House over the $120 billion supplemental war funding bill ended last week when, on May 24, Congress sent President Bush a version of the bill that he signed into law. The final bill (H.R. 2206) — the largest supplemental spending bill in the history of the United States — also raises the minimum wage for the first time in over ten years, a fact that seems to have been lost in national news coverage.

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Congress Approves Budget Resolution

On May 17, Congress achieved a basic benchmark of responsible fiscal governance — passing a final budget resolution. While this accomplishment has become somewhat of a rare event in Washington (spending in three of the past five fiscal years has not been guided by a budget resolution), and the votes were close (Senate 52-40, House 214-209), Democrats were able to reach final compromises on a few contentious issues.

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Congressional Hearing Reveals Flaws in Outsourcing Tax Debt Collection

On May 23, the House Ways and Means Committee heard testimony on the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) private debt collection program that lets outside contractors pursue federal tax debts. At the hearing, Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) requested that the IRS not issue additional contracts to private collection agencies (PCAs).

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Congress Demands Answers to USDA Security Breach

On April 13, a user of FedSpending.org, an online database on government spending run by OMB Watch, discovered that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was publishing personally identifiable information about a loan she received from the agency.

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House Lobby Reform Bill Expected to Move Soon

The leadership in the House has been working on its legislation to reform lobbying disclosure and ethics practices and is expected to unveil the plan today, May 15, or tomorrow, May 16, with a mark-up of the bill in the Judiciary Committee expected May 17. Despite repeated statements that a bill will be filed soon, controversy over grassroots lobbying disclosure, limits on bundling of campaign contributions by registered lobbyists and expansion of the cooling off period before ex-members of Congress can lobby have stalled progress. Rumors abound that the Democratic leadership bill will address the revolving door issue by doubling the cooling off period to two years. But the other two issues — grassroots lobbying disclosure and bundling of campaign contributions — are not likely to be addressed, although the leadership seems willing to have them offered as amendments or separate bills.

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Open House Project Calls for New Era of Access

At a briefing in the U.S. Capitol on May 8, the Open House Project, a collaborative effort by government information experts, congressional staff, nonprofit organizers and bloggers to develop attainable reforms to promote transparency in the House of Representatives, publicly launched its new report and recommendations. The project was initiated and is managed by the Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit that strives to use the Internet and technology to ensure greater government transparency and accountability.

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