CQ reports ($$) that the House Appropriations Committee Chairman -Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA)- did not renew the contracts of 60 investigators who examined federal spending. About 16 investigators remain on staff, but given the contractor reduction, no investigations will be going forward any time soon. Committee spokesman John Scofield said Thursday that the contracts were not renewed because the panel is conducting a “bipartisan review” of the unit’s staff. “Frankly, the work we’ve been getting as of late has not been that good,” Scofield said. “There is nothing sinister going on.”

In Part 1 of our evaluation of the 109th Congress to date, we looked last week at Congress’ effort to meet its minimal constitutional requirements: producing a budget resolution and adopting a budget. While Congress failed to complete work on the FY2007 budget, it did approve an additional $70 billion in tax cuts over five years, and allowed discretionary spending to increase to $873 billion, $30 billion above the 2006 level. On top of this, Congress approved two major FY 2006 supplemental bills to finance the war in Iraq and Katrina recovery, totaling $110 billion.

Next Tuesday, Oct. 10, at 9:30 a.m. EST, OMB Watch is launching FedSpending.org, a new, searchable online database allowing you to search, aggregate and analyze all federal spending. Be a more informed voter this midterm election. See which federal programs and agencies got the most federal dollars this year. See which contractors are getting paid how much to work in your congressional district.