House Oversight Committee Moves Troublesome DATA Act to Floor
Jun 22, 2011 by Craig Jennings
This morning, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform unanimously approved the DATA Act (PDF). And that's a problem, because now it's headed to the House floor with a number of provisions we have serious concerns about.
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DATA Act Would be a Setback for Spending Transparency
Jun 21, 2011 by Craig Jennings
It has been a whirlwind 8 days since Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) introduced a bill to reform federal spending transparency. On June 13, Issa introduced the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act), held a hearing the next day, and will mark up the bill tomorrow in his Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
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DATA Act Scheduled for Markup in House
Jun 21, 2011 by Sam Rosen-Amy
Tomorrow morning the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will markup the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act). The DATA Act seeks to expand upon the Recovery Act by turning the temporary Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board into a permanent “Federal Accountability and Spending Transparency Board” (FAST Board), which will have authority over all federal spending transparency and will administer USAspending.gov. The bill also expands upon the Recovery Act’s recipient reporting model, bringing it to the entire federal government.
read in fullSpending Bill Would Hide Consumer Safety Risks, Money in Politics
Jun 16, 2011 by Gavin Baker
Consumer product safety risks would be concealed and influence peddling in government contracting would remain out of public view under the provisions of the fiscal year (FY) 2012 spending bill approved today by the House Financial Services and General Government appropriations subcommittee.
read in fullCIO Vivek Kundra to Resign in August
Jun 16, 2011 by Gary Bass*
The White House today announced that federal Chief Information Officer (CIO) Vivek Kundra will resign in August to accept a fellowship at Harvard University. We offer our most sincere congratulations to Vivek on the new position and wish him the very best of luck in the future.
read in fullWhite House Makes Boneheaded Move in not Proactively Disclosing Transparency Meeting
Mar 31, 2011 by Gary Bass*
Two days ago, I posted a message about my meeting with President Obama to acknowledge his commitment to transparency and to give him an award for that commitment. During that meeting, the president reaffirmed his belief in transparency and demonstrated a nuanced understanding of the issues involved. I left the meeting assured I had an advocate for transparency running the government, even as we talked about ways of strengthening transparency. Yesterday, I learned that the meeting was not listed on his public calendar. There is no good excuse for this.
read in fullA Face-to-Face with the President about Transparency
Mar 29, 2011 by Gary Bass*
Yesterday, I had a once-in-a-career opportunity – to discuss transparency in the Oval Office with the President of the United States.
read in fullOur Six-Point Plan for Spending Transparency
Mar 18, 2011 by Sam Rosen-Amy
As I wrote about yesterday in this post, last Friday the House Oversight Committee held a great hearing focusing on spending transparency. We submitted written testimony for the hearing, which you can read here. In it, we talk about the six changes Congress and the Obama administration should make to USAspending.gov, the government's spending website which is based off of one of our websites, FedSpending.org.
PATRIOT Act Provisions Get Three-Month Extension, But Nearly Lose Funding
Feb 18, 2011 by Gavin Baker
The House voted yesterday to agree to the Senate's three-month extension of expiring PATRIOT Act provisions. The President is expected to sign the bill before Feb. 28, when the current provisions expire.
read in fullCongress Headed for PATRIOT Act Debate This Year
Feb 16, 2011 by Gavin Baker
The Senate voted yesterday to extend expiring provisions of the PATRIOT Act until May 27. The House had voted to extend the provisions until December 8; today, the House agreed to consider the Senate version. The House and Senate have to agree before Feb. 28 or the provisions will expire.
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