Government Matters Articles

White House Adds Bricks to Its Congressional Stonewall

The Bush administration's pattern of doggedly withholding information from Congress seems to have garnered national attention as congressional oversight on critical issues has accelerated. The White House has refused to provide copies of internal legal documents regarding warrantless domestic spying by the National Security Agency (NSA), communications detailing when the administration learned of potential wide-spread damage from Hurricane Katrina, and information, including photos, related to the president's dealings with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

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Blackout Period Begins for Some Nonprofit Broadcasts

For the first time ever, charities and religious organizations are among groups barred from broadcasting messages that refer to federal candidates within 30 days of a primary and 60 days of a general election. The Wisconsin Right to Life Committee (WRTL), a nonprofit organization that has challenged the ban, asked a special three-judge court to expedite its review of the constitutionality of the rule as it applies to grassroots lobbying broadcasts. The court will hold a status hearing for Feb. 27.

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Openness: The Best Defense Against Bioterrorism

The National Research Council (NRC) concluded, in a recent report on biochemical research and bioterrorism safeguards, that an open and free exchange of scientific research and ideas is an important component of efforts to protect the country from a biochemical attack or accident. Globalization, Biosecurity, and the Future of the Life Sciences recommends several measures to reduce the risk of an attack using biological weapons or an accident involving biological agents and technology.

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Chemical Safety Board Wants Improved Accident Evidence Gathering

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) recently proposed a new rule that would require plant owners and operators to preserve critical evidence after major spills or explosions. The agency believes that companies under investigation have, on occasion, altered or handled evidence from a chemical accident in a way that hampers a thorough investigation. CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating the root causes of industrial chemical accidents, and making safety recommendations, similar to the way that the National Transportation Safety Board investigates airplane crashes.

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Initial Analysis of the President's 2007 Budget

The president's Fiscal Year 2007 (FY 07) budget would set the nation on a dangerous fiscal path and does nothing to honestly address the federal government's looming budgetary challenges. The budget--totaling $2.77 trillion--would make permanent the president's first-term tax cuts, which primarily benefit the wealthy, and pay for those cuts in part by cutting some entitlement programs and drastically reducing domestic discretionary spending (outside of homeland security and defense).

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You're Doing a Heckuva Job, Georgie: Debunking the State of the Union

In his Jan. 31 State of the Union address, President Bush spoke on many issues vital to the country including foreign policy, the economy, and health care. As is often the case in the annual address, the president offered far fewer specifics and suggested fewer solutions than many Americans would have liked to hear. Still, the president did manage to articulate a few specific points, some suggesting policies and others spinning the facts. To follow is a look behind a few of the more misleading statements made by the president in the address.

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Update: "Is Industry Pulling EPA's Strings?"

On Jan. 23 Thomas Sullivan, chief counsel for advocacy with The Small Business Administration (SBA), contacted OMB Watch in response to "Is Industry Pulling EPA's Strings?", an article recently published in The Watcher that describes a troubling pattern of close cooperation and extensive communication between the SBA and the Environmental Protection Agency around reducing chemical reporting under the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), in order cut down on governmental paperwork for companies. Sullivan asked that OMB Watch clarify that the 1997 investigation by SBA's Inspector General into possible unethical actions around the TRI by SBA lawyer Kevin Bromberg, who has previously advocated for an industry coalition on TRI, found no evidence of inappropriate action. During his conversation with OMB Watch, Sullivan acknowledged that all of the facts cited in the article about recent interactions between EPA and SBA are correct. The article has been updated to reflect SBA's request.

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Reform Must Illuminate Channels of Money, Influence

Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have proposed principles and introduced legislation to purge the excessive influence of lobbyists in Washington, since corruption scandals highlighted the inappropriately cozy relationship between Capitol Hill and K Street. Neither party, however, appears to be making full use of one the best weapons against corruption and abuses of power--sunlight. Reform proposals would all be strengthened with more comprehensive use of the tools of transparency.

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The Graham Files

New from OMB Watch: The Graham Files, a compilation of OMB Watch's analysis and news reports from John Graham's tenure as administrator of OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

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Amid Reform Frenzy, Senate Democrats Introduce Lobby Reform Bill

Since the guilty plea by lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Congress has been hurriedly preparing lobby and ethics reform legislation. Republicans announced their ideas at a Jan. 17 press conference that seemed mostly designed to pre-empt the unveiling of Democrats plan on Jan. 18. The Senate Democrats followed their press event with the introduction of a comprehensive bill authored by Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). In our view, the Reid bill is a solid beginning, but falls short of adequately addressing the culture of corruption that surrounds Washington politics today. To follow is an analysis of the Reid bill and its impact on lobbying generally and nonprofit lobbying specifically.

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