Press Room

Statement on Bush's Unauthorized Domestic Spying

The admission by President Bush that he personally authorized the surveillance of American citizens beyond judicial oversight raises two sets of critical questions, one dealing with whether he followed the letter of the law and the other with the quality of the judgment he exercised. Congress must now concern itself with both these areas.

read in full

MEDIA ALERT: EPA Chemical Reporting Cuts Put Communities at Risk

Analysis: Nearly 1,000 Communities Across U.S. Would Lose All Information
The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced plans to gut its premier program for informing the public about toxic pollution, the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). Thursday, Dec. 1 at 12:30pm EST, environmental groups, first responders, workers and public officials will call upon the EPA to abandon the plan, releasing a state-by-state analysis of the risk the plan poses to emergency preparedness.

read in full

Final Rule on Anti-Terrorist Certification for Charities Is Just First Step

Washington, DC (November 11, 2005)--The Office of Personnel Management withdrew a regulation this week that required nonprofits participating in the Combined Federal Campaign--the federal government's workplace charitable giving program--to screen employees and donation recipients for possible terrorist ties. The new final rule, which applies to 2006 CFC applicants, instead requires participating charities to certify that they are in compliance with existing anti-terrorist financing laws.

read in full

Report Finds Anti-Terrorism Policies Hurt Charities

Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, federal measures intended to cut off terrorism funding have imposed undue burdens on the nonprofit sector, according to a report released at the end of last month. The report from OMB Watch, a nonprofit research and advocacy group, entitled 'Safeguarding Charity in the War on Terror,' addresses anti-terrorist financing regulations and guidelines that, according to the report, "lack a basic understanding of how nonprofits function, and ultimately do not help -- and may even hinder -- the global war on terror."

read in full

Statement on Passage in the House of the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act

OMB Watch is deeply disappointed that the House of Representatives has passed legislation that unfairly restricts the advocacy voice and civic participation of nonprofit organizations.

read in full

689 National, State and Local Organizations Reject Attempt to Restrict Nonprofit Advocacy

Washington, DC (October 26, 2005) -- Today, 690 national, state and local organizations, from housing and community development to faith-based and civil rights groups, signed-on to a letter sent to every Member of the U.S. House of Representatives opposing the anti-advocacy provisions that will be added to H.R. 1461, the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2005.

read in full

Government 'Reform' Threatens Public Protections, OMB Watch's Robert Shull Testifies Today

Washington -- Sep 27, 2005 -- Government reorganization cannot come at the expense of public protections, according to testimony by Robert Shull, OMB Watch's regulatory policy director, to be delivered today before the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Federal Workforce and Agency Organization.

read in full

Press Release: Government Secrecy Growing with Few Controls

Washington -- Sep 4, 2005 -- Government secrecy is increasing in volume and scope, according to a report released today. The 2005 Secrecy Report Card, the second annual report from OpenTheGovernment.org, found secrecy in 2004 extended to more classified activity, more federal advisory meetings, more new patents deemed "secret," more domestic surveillance, and more new state laws restricting public access to information.

read in full

MEDIA ALERT: Media Call for Release of 2005 Secrecy Report Card

OpenTheGovernment.org will hold a call for reporters and editorial board members for the release of its second annual Secrecy Report Card on Thursday, September 1, 2005 at 12:30pm EST. This year's report card features an encyclopedia of government restrictions on "sensitive but unclassified" information, plus all-new reporting on "patent secrecy orders," state-level legislation, and closed advisory committee meetings. Examined alongside updated figures on classification, whistleblowers, and information requests under the Freedom of Information Act, these findings point to unprecedented levels of government secrecy.

read in full

Latest Budget Projections Demonstrate Need for Policy About-Face

Washington, DC -- August 17, 2005 -- This week, just over a month after the White House released its much publicized and misleading budget projections, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released its own projections. This report should serve as a wake-up call to the Bush administration, Congress, and the American people that today's unsustainable fiscal policies are dangerous to the economic security of the country.

read in full

Pages

  • ©2025 Project On Government Oversight
  • 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.