When House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) refused to bring the intelligence reform bill to a vote because Republicans in the House of Representatives opposed it, some open government advocates breathed a sigh of relief. As the bill moved through Congress, lawmakers dropped or severely limited the 9/11 Commission's recommendations to strengthen openness throughout the federal government.
The Senate Committee on Intelligence Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) finally released declassified testimony from former White House Counterterrorism Chief Richard Clarke regarding the 9/11 investigation. As reported in a previous OMB Watcher article, Roberts refused to release the testimony publicly, even though officials declassified it earlier this year. The testimony gained attention after critics asserted that Clarke made statements this past March regarding pre-9/11 intelligence that conflicted with the earlier testimony.
A proposed rule in New Jersey would keep important health and safety information secret, possibly endangering residents that live near chemical plants, or workers that are employed at a number of different facilities.
Rail companies that operate in and around Washington, DC, refuse to reveal whether or not hazardous chemicals are being re-routed around the city. Rail companies may be voluntarily re-routing trains, but the public will not be informed.
In the first Data Quality Act case to be handled by the courts, a U.S. District Court has ruled that challenges under the DQA and its subsequent guidelines to agencies are not judicially reviewable. A previous court decision addressed the issue of reviewability, but the legal claim in that case was not limited to data quality.
On Nov. 23, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began early access to the 2003 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), but in a limited manner. This early release is seven months faster than last year's release. While this earlier access represents a step in the right direction, the data format significantly limits its use. Additionally, EPA will not make the underlying data available to the public at this time.
In both versions of the FY 2005 Labor-HHS spending bill, the House and Senate approved amendments intended to block the White House from implementing new and harmful overtime rules. Those amendments, sponsored by Rep. David Obey (D-WI) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), would have reinstated old overtime eligibility rules for some workers, and were seen as a major victory for labor.
While members of Congress were unable to complete work on the omnibus spending bill or the intelligence bill during the lame-duck session, they did manage to complete their work on the debt limit.
Although it was widely believed Congress would pass and the President would sign the $388 billion omnibus spending bill before Thanksgiving, it appears now the must-pass legislation will remain on hold until Dec. 6 when Congress will reconvene for a second lame-duck session to work on its passage. The bill, H.R. 4818, includes the nine remaining appropriations bills Congress left unfinished when the fiscal year ended, as well as numerous other riders and provisions.
In the aftermath of two court rulings rejecting rulemakings on winter use plans for Yellowstone, the National Park Service is once again being challenged in court for failing to consider the effects on bison populations of winter use plans that accommodate snowmobile use.
