Government Performance | Center for Effective Government

Another Attempt at Ending IRS Privatization Program Moves Forward

Both the House and Senate have taken important steps toward ending the wasteful and risky Internal Revenue Service (IRS) private tax collection program. The House Ways and Means Committee approved a bill (H.R. 3056) that would repeal the program, and the Senate Appropriations Committee cleared a bill (H.R. 2829) that would tightly limit the funding available at the IRS to administer the program.

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Amidst Increased Scrutiny, FDA Wants to Shut Testing Labs

Amidst increased scrutiny by the public and Congress of the problems with food imports and instances of bacterial outbreaks in the domestic food supply, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to close 7 of 13 laboratories that test for food safety.

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U.S. Ability to Regulate Chinese Imports in Question

The United States government is struggling to ensure the safety of consumer products and food imported from China, as evidenced by a recent spate of controversies involving dangerous Chinese-made products. While America's consumer product safety net is relatively strong, China's young market economy is largely unchecked by government regulators. Subsequently, dangerous Chinese products are finding their way to American shores where federal agency officials are unable to monitor the volume of imports.

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House Bills Address Mining Health and Safety Shortfalls

Two House bills introduced June 19 address health and safety issues left out of the MINER Act passed in 2006 after coal miners died in three separate accidents in Kentucky and West Virginia. The bills also include provisions that will allow the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), often criticized for slow implementation of mining laws, to better address new and existing protections.

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Congress Demands Answers to USDA Security Breach

On April 13, a user of FedSpending.org, an online database on government spending run by OMB Watch, discovered that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was publishing personally identifiable information about a loan she received from the agency.

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DHS Doesn't Share Well with Others

The Homeland Security Act of 2002 granted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) statutory authority to coordinate information-sharing networks with state and local governments. As the five-year anniversary of the creation of the Department approaches, along with the six-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that DHS is falling short of its responsibility to effectively share information within the federal government, or with state, local and tribal governments and the private sector.

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Support Mounts to End IRS Privatization Program

Key politicians and advocacy groups are lining up against an IRS program to privatize tax collections, as suspect contracts have raised further concerns about the effectiveness and transparency of the program.

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GSA Administrator Testifies on Misconduct Allegations

On March 28, General Services Administration (GSA) chief Lurita Doan testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to account for incidents of alleged mismanagement and politicization of GSA resources. In her testimony, Doan mostly offered unsubstantiated denials and accusations while professing ignorance or a faulty recollection of key actions.

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Miners Detail MSHA's Failings in Emotional Testimony

On March 28, the House Committee on Education and Labor heard emotional testimony from miners and miners' families about the dangerous conditions that currently exist in the coal industry, despite recent federal legislation that addresses mine safety. The main focus of the hearing was to provide a forum for the families and miners to argue for legislative and regulatory action similar to laws recently passed in West Virginia and Kentucky and to describe conditions in the mines.

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Contracting Reform Bills Move in Congress

Congress is moving forward on bills to reform the federal contracting system, as the House approved a bill that improves contracting procedures, and the Senate introduced a comprehensive contract reform bill. The bills are an encouraging sign that Congress is working to fix some of the broken parts of the contracting system, but it will need to do much more to address the full scope of the problem.

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