Congress has a responsibility under the Constitution to conduct oversight of the executive branch. The Committee on Government Reform has the specific responsibility to oversee whether laws and programs are being implemented and carried out in accordance with the intent of Congress and whether they should be continued, curtailed, or eliminated; the application, administration, execution, and effectiveness of laws and programs; and the organization and operation of federal agencies and entities having responsibilities for the administration and execution of laws and programs. As set forth in House Rule X, clause 4, the Committee also may, at any time, conduct investigations of any matter regardless of whether another standing committee has jurisdiction over the matter.
WASHINGTON – One week into his tenure as the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. Representative Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-NY), discussed his plans for the Committee at a panel discussion on the future of government oversight and investigations in the 111th Congress….
Seeking to create a seamless transition, U.S. Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-NY) hit the ground running on the first day of the 111th Congress with two major pieces of legislation, which passed the House of Representatives: the Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2009 (H.R. 35) and Presidential Library Donation Act of 2009 (H.R. 36). Rep. Towns’ bills were the first order of business and the first to be considered on the first day Congress met to address legislative business. Both bills include significant transparency reforms that would overhaul the process for accessing presidential records and disclose donations to presidential libraries.
U.S. Representative Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-NY), Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the massive coal ash spill at a facility operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in Kingston, Tennessee, one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.
Today, Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns, Rep. Henry A. Waxman, and Sen. Claire McCaskill issued a new report that finds that the Bush Administration has failed to implement over 13,000 recommendations made by Inspectors General (IGs) since 2001. Federal agencies could save taxpayers over $25 billion by implementing these open recommendations.
Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-NY), incoming Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, named Ronald Stroman as staff director and Michael McCarthy as deputy staff director of the committee.
This evening, the House Democratic Caucus formally elected Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-NY) as Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
The Committee will next Tuesday consider a report supported by Chairman Henry A. Waxman and former Ranking Member Tom Davis finding that President Bush made a “legally unprecedented and an inappropriate use of executive privilege” when he directed Attorney General Mukasey to withhold Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald’s interview of Vice President Cheney from the Committee.
Chairman Henry A. Waxman issued a statement regarding the transition efforts of the Government Accountability Office.
According to a report released today by Chairman Waxman, key FDA career officials strongly objected to Bush Administration drug labeling regulations that would preempt state liability lawsuits, asserting that the central justifications for the regulations were “false and misleading” and warning that the changes would deprive consumers of timely information about drug hazards.
Chairman Waxman requested an explanation from HHS Secretary Leavitt on why a proposed rule that would threaten access to reproductive and other health services was issued in apparent violation of an executive order requiring interagency coordination and review.
The Committee held a hearing titled, “The Financial Crisis and the Role of Federal Regulators” at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 23, 2008, in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing examined the roles and responsibilities of federal regulators in the current financial crisis.
A draft Committee report circulated by Chairman Waxman finds that in the months before the 2006 elections, the White House Office of Political Affairs “enlisted agency heads across government in a coordinated effort to elect Republican candidates to Congress,” directing them “to make hundreds of trips – most at taxpayer expense – for the purpose of increasing the electability of Republicans.”
A bipartisan report circulated today by Chairman Henry A. Waxman and Ranking Member Tom Davis finds that President Bush made a “legally unprecedented and an inappropriate use of executive privilege” when he directed Attorney General Mukasey to withhold Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald’s interview of Vice President Cheney from the Committee. A separate report circulated by Chairman Waxman criticizes the President’s assertion of executive privilege in the Committee’s investigation into recent climate change and Clean Air Act decisions. Both reports will be considered by the full Committee next week.
Chairman Waxman released a statement about the Administration’s $700 billion proposal to rescue financial institutions.
Chairman Waxman wrote to Ranking Members Davis and Issa responding to their letters about oversight of the Mineral Management Service.
Chairman Waxman sent letters seeking additional information about documents withheld from the Committee under claims of executive privilege by President Bush, including documents relating to whether the White House complied with the Clean Air Act on important environmental decisions and documents relating to the outing of covert CIA official Valerie Plame Wilson.
The House of Representatives passed H.R. 6388, the Government Accountability Office Improvement Act of 2008. Chairman Henry A. Waxman and 18 other committee chairs introduced this legislation to strengthen the Government Accountability Office and restore GAO’s authority to pursue litigation if documents are improperly withheld from the agency.
Chairman Waxman wrote to Scott Bloch to express his concerns about the effectiveness of the Office of Special Counsel and to urge Bloch to step down to protect the interests of the agency and those it is charged to protect.
The Committee has opened an investigation into allegations that an individual solicited funds for the George W. Bush Presidential Library in return for access to senior U.S. foreign policy officials.
In response to Committee investigations showing the loss and destruction of White House e-mails, the House on July 9, 2008, passed reform legislation requiring the Archivist to issue standards ensuring the preservation of White House e-mails. In addition, the White House responded to the Committee’s investigation with its own reforms that may reduce the use of political e-mail accounts for official business.
By a vote of 286-137, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5811, the Electronic Communications Preservation Act, which would modernize the requirements of the Presidential Records Act and the Federal Records Act to ensure that vital electronic records are preserved.
Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay, and Rep. Paul W. Hodes released a new GAO report that finds that senior federal officials are failing to comply with requirements to preserve e-mail records. On Wednesday, the House is expected to consider legislation (H.R. 5811) to modernize the Federal Records Act and the Presidential Records Act to ensure the preservation of these important federal records.
Chairman Waxman writes Attorney General Mukasey that the Oversight Committee will vote to hold him in contempt unless the Attorney General produces a copy of the report of the FBI interview of Vice President Cheney in the investigation of the leak of the identity of Valerie Plame Wilson, a covert CIA agent.
Chairman Henry A. Waxman and 18 other committee chairs introduced legislation to strengthen the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and restore GAO’s authority to pursue litigation if documents are improperly withheld from the agency.
The Oversight Committee has received evidence that the U.S. Embassy in Albania approved an effort to conceal the illegal Chinese origins of ammunition shipped to Afghanistan by AEY, a Florida arms dealer whose 22-year-old president was indicted last week.
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