Dye to Head MSHA

Nov 29, 2004 by Guest Blogger

Labor Secretary Elaine Chao has chosen David Dye to be the acting assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health.

read in full

Court Rules Data Quality Act Not Judicially Reviewable

A U.S. District Court has ruled that the Data Quality Act (DQA) and its subsequent guidelines to agencies are not judicially reviewable. This represents the first DQA case handled by the courts. A previous court decision addressed the issue of the DQA's judicial reviewability, but that legal claim in that case was not limited to data quality.

read in full

Appointment Highlights

Nov 29, 2004 by Guest Blogger

In a weekend compromise, Minority Leader Harry Reid lifted a senate block on 175 Bush nominations, leading to a flurry of confirmations. Here are some of the highlights: (All data was taken from the Library of Congress legislative tracking service, Thomas. EPA Stephen L. Johnson, of Maryland, to be Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, replacing Linda J. Fisher, resigned. Charles Johnson, of Utah, to be Chief Financial Officer, Environmental Protection Agency, replacing Linda Morrison Combs. Ann R. Klee, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, replacing Robert E. Fabricant, resigned. Benjamin Grumbles, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, replacing George Tracy Mehan, III, resigned. Housing and Urban Development Cathy M. MacFarlane, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, replacing Diane Leneghan Tomb, resigned. Dennis C. Shea, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, replacing Alberto Faustino Trevino, resigned. Romolo A. Bernardi, of New York, to be Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, replacing Alphonso R. Jackson. Labor Lisa Kruska, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of Labor, replacing Kathleen M. Harrington. USDA Michael J. Harrison, of Connecticut, to be an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, replacing Lou Gallegos, resigned.

read in full

Cow tests negative for mad cow disease

Nov 24, 2004 by Guest Blogger

The cow that had tested positive in the rapid tests for mad cow disease last week, turned out to be negative. Extensive tests at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa came back negative for the prion that causes mad cow disease. The negative results are certainly a relief, but the scare still highlights the need to close loopholes in our safeguard system. Read OMB Watch analysis.

read in full

Dems lift blocks; More cabinet resignations expected

Nov 24, 2004 by Guest Blogger

In a weekend deal, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid let up his block on 175 Bush nominees in exchange for a recess appointment of Reid's adviser on nuclear issues, Gregory Jaczko, to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Also in the agreement, Republican nominee to the NRC, retired Nave Vice Adm. Albert H. Konetzni Jr., would get a seat on the commission. Konetzni is expect to become the commission chairman late next year. Several Democratic senators led by Sen James Jeffords (I-Vt.) had previously blocked the appointments of some EPA nominations, saying that EPA had been unresponsive to their requests for information on a variety of issues. These senators lifted their block on Nov. 19, allowing the nominations to go forward. Benjamin Grumbles was confirmed as the EPA assistant administrator for water. Grumbles has been the acting assistant administrator since G. Tracy Mehan resigned in January. Three recess appointments to EPA were confirmed by the senate. Ann Klee was confirmed as the EPA general counsel. Klee was appointed to the position by Bush in August during recess. Klee had previously served as senior adviser to Interior Secretary Gale Norton before being nominated to the EPA position last February. She replaces Robert Fabricant, who left in July 2003. Stephen Johnson was confirmed as EPA deputy administrator, and Charles Johnson was confirmed as the chief financial officer. Johnson had previously served as the EPA assistant administrator for pollution prevention and toxic substances and replaces Linda Fisher, who left in July 2003. Charles Johnson, former chief of staff to EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt, when Leavitt was governor of Utah, was Utah's planning and budget officer before taking the post at the EPA. The New York Times reported that White House sources expect the resignations of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, and Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson.

read in full

Of snow jobs and smog

Nov 23, 2004 by Guest Blogger

Yet another giveaway of the public interest for corporate special interests. EPA has removed several chemicals from its list of smog-forming volatile organic compounds subject to Clean Air Act regulation. The NRDC has examined the delisting of one of those -- tertiary butyl acetate, or TBAC -- and found that the EPA has distorted basic chemistry and compiled a dubious economics analysis to justify deregulating this chemical that causes ground-level ozone, which is harmful to the lungs. Find out more here.

read in full

Great analysis of Chairman Bond's speech at NAACP dinner

Nov 23, 2004 by Guest Blogger

The Washington Post has a great article analyzing whether Chairman Bond's speech at the NAACP dinner violated the IRS nonprofit electioneering provision. Under IRS rules, nonprofits cannot advocate either way regarding the election of a candidate. To put it simply, the NAACP could not say, "vote for John Kerry". Because nonprofits are tax-exempt, they should not use tax-deductible (i.e. government subsidized) donations behalf of one candidate or another.

read in full

New Technology Lowers Mercury Emissions by 90 Percent

Nov 23, 2004 by Guest Blogger

While EPA continues to argue that a 90 percent reduction in mercury emissions at coal-fired power plants would be infeasible, a Kansas coal-fired power plant successfully lowered mercury emissions by 90 percent, according to the emissions control maker, ADA-ES. The company announced Nov. 18 that a month-long test of activated carbon injection at Sunflower Electric Holcomb Station successfully lowered mercury emissions of Western coal.

read in full

Tax Provision Holds Up Spending Bill

Nov 23, 2004 by Guest Blogger

Over the weekend Congress passed a $388 billion spending bill that included funding for the nine appropriations bills that remained unfinished when the fiscal year ended on September 30th. The massive omnibus bill was scheduled to go to the White House to be signed by the President early this week, however it was held up on Capitol Hill as lawmakers rushed to remove a provision from the bill that wasn't supposed to be there.

The provision, buried on page 1,162 of a 3,600 page document, would have given House and Senate Appropriations Committee staffers the power to enter IRS facilities and examine American's tax returns. This right is only currently available to the tax-writing committees of the two chambers. Embarrassed Republican lawmakers expressed surprise that this provision was included in the omnibus and blamed both the IRS and congressional staffers for incorporating it into the bill. Once it is removed, it will be sent to the White House.

The process of passing all unfinished spending bills in a massive omnibus is detrimental because it is more secretive and rushed than it would be if the spending bills were each passed separately, and on time. According to this informative Washington Post article, "When the measure was rushed to the floors of the two chambers on Saturday, few members had read it." Professor of Public Policy Allen Schick noted that the inclusion of this provision shows "how easy it is to put something in [an omnibus bill] without anybody else knowing about it."

Fortuntely this provision was caught before the bill was signed by the President. It does demonstrate, however, the problems of a process that allows this to take place. As Representative Ernest J. Istook (R-OK) stated, "We have a problem with how bills like this are put together." Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND), who serves as the ranking Democratic Member of the Senate Budget Committee, also comments on this issue in his floor statement on the subject, which you can read here.

For additional information, see this Washington Post article.

read in full

IRS explains current developments concerning charities

Nov 22, 2004 by Guest Blogger

The following article details a November 18th discussion on terrorism and grantmaking at the Western Conference on Tax Exempt Organizations, where officials from the IRS discussed current and future regulations of nonprofits.

read in full

Pages

  • ©2015 Center for Effective Government
  • All Rights Reserved.
  • This an archive site of the materials produced by the Center for Effective Government (formerly OMB Watch) and is maintained by the Project On Government Oversight.