Politics

The Day in Transparency 3/25/2011

By Melanie Buck

Here is Friday's look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events.

News Roundup:

• For the first time, Senate chiefs of staff are having professional fundraisers make calls to lobbyists for the annual Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spring fundraiser. (Roll Call $)
• Former Senate aide Doug Hampton was indicted on charges that he violated conflict of interest laws and Senate revolving door rules through contact with his former boss, Sen. John Ensign (R-NV). (Roll Call $)(Politico)
• The Federal Reserve has taken a step toward transparency with an announcement that Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold quarterly press briefings to discuss Fed policy. (The Hill)(Politico)
• An Inspector General audit of Pentagon stimulus funds found that there were 2,914 discrepancies in 1,943 reports for awards worth $1.7 billion. (The Center for Public Integrity)
• House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) is investigating Federal Communications Commission officials' frequent White House visits. (Government Executive)
• The Investigative Reporting Workshop relates their experience investigating airplane maintenance information through FOIA requests. Interestingly, they found that similar FOIA requests can get vastly different responses. (Investigative Reporting Workshop)
• A task force formed by the Intelligence and National Security Alliance found that the intelligence community needs clarification regarding organizational conflict of interests for industry contractors. (Government Executive)
• The Project on Government Oversight released an army audit report retrieved through FOIA, on "Foreign Language Program Training and Proficiency." (Project on Government Oversight)
• GovLoop makes it into the Lobby Comply Blog "Highlighted Site of the Week." (Lobby Comply Blog)

• None. House and Senate not in session.

• None. House and Senate not in session.

• Inside Official Washington - Office of Government Ethics. American University Washington College of Law. 10:00am-12:00pm.

Full post as published by Sunlight Foundation on March 25, 2011 (boomark / email).