Government Performance

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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We've Updated FedSpending.org

Oct 22, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

Our IT goblins have been slaving away in the basement of OMB Watch for months processing loads and loads of government data, and they finally have something to show for it! Our latest update to FedSpending.org includes federal spending on contracts through 2008 with partial data available for FY 2009, and federal assistance spending, such as grants, loans, insurance and direct government payments, up through the first two quarters of 2008. Take a gander and manipulate all the new data by state, year, federal agency, or type of contract or assistance.

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Groups Call for Recovery.gov Overhaul Before Major Data Release on October 30

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2009—Three nonprofit organizations that have been tracking the Recovery Act today called for the Obama administration to overhaul its jobs data system before releasing its first large set of data on Oct. 30.

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Data Use a Key Element of EPA Clean Water Plan

Oct 16, 2009 by Matthew Madia

Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency released a "Clean Water Act Enforcement Action Plan." The plan lays out a broad vision for clean water enforcement as well as specific goals the agency will take in the coming months and years to improve enforcement at the state and federal level.

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USDA Budget Leaves Food Safety Agency Wanting

Oct 14, 2009 by Matthew Madia

When Congress finalized on Thursday the Department of Agriculture’s FY 2010 budget, it fulfilled President Obama’s request to give a modest funding boost to the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS). Unfortunately, it appears the agency will be unable to close the gap in its inspection force responsible for policing the nation’s supply of meat and poultry.

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POGO Launches Contracting Survey

Oct 14, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

Are you a federal government or contractor employee with experience in federal service contracts? If so, the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) would like you to take their new survey.

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OMB Releases Plan to Elevate Performance Evaluation

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a memo to federal agencies on Oct. 7 that outlines a new initiative to bring a renewed emphasis and additional resources for program evaluation within agencies. Although this initiative is not a comprehensive plan to reinvigorate performance measurement in the federal government, it will help correct many problems that kept previous performance systems from creating real improvement in government performance.

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First Round of Recovery Act Data Expected Oct. 15

On Oct. 15, the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board (Recovery Board) will begin releasing on Recovery.gov the first round of Recovery Act recipient reporting to the public.

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Franken Amendment Addresses Contractors that Hide Sexual Assaults

Oct 9, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

On Tuesday, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) introduced and successfully shepherded through debate a meaningful contracting reform amendment to the FY 2010 Defense Appropriations bill. The amendment will defund contractors that block their employees from bringing workplace sexual assault cases to court, forcing contractors to amend their policies or face losing tons of money.

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Asleep on the Job: Where are the Consequences for Contractor Misconduct?

Oct 7, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

In what may be the next big defense contracting scandal, an Associated Press story released this morning relates some troubling findings from a recent investigation. AP reporters uncovered serious flaws with the U.S. Army's $2.7 billion contract with Combat Support Associates (CSA), a contractor tasked with supporting U.S. troops at bases throughout Kuwait. After months of bad press and congressional hearings into the defense contracting industry, you would think this investigation might provide just that little extra momentum for Congress or the federal government to clean up this mess, but don't count on it.

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OMB Launches Opening Salvo on Performance Overhaul

Oct 7, 2009 by Adam Hughes*

OMB Director Peter Orszag released a memo to the heads of executive departments and agencies this morning announcing a new initiative in the FY 2011 budget process that seeks to bring increased emphasis and resources for program evaluation within agencies. The memo has three separate goals:

1) Posting more information about federal evaluations online: OMB will begin working this fall with federal agencies to expand access to information about program evaluations.

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