Releases
“The Obama Administration’s argument should trouble Americans who believe the President and the Federal government are not above the law. In perpetuating a cover-up, through false and misleading statements that even the Justice Department’s own Inspector General found troubling, the Obama administration argued for months that it did not have to meet its legal obligations to a lawfully issued congressional subpoena. Now, the Department is advancing arguments – already rejected by the federal judiciary – that our court system does not have jurisdiction to ensure accountability either. The American people deserve to know the full truth about what happened in Operation Fast and Furious and why top justice officials stood behind false denials of reckless conduct.” Continue reading
“This shooting is a tragic reminder of the dangers the brave men and women who guard our borders face every day. Just last month, I attended a ceremony with agents based at the Bisbee station naming it in honor of their fallen colleague, Brian Terry. My prayers are with the family of the agent who lost his life today and his wounded colleague.” Continue reading
“Based on information provided to the Committee by individuals with direct knowledge of events in Libya, the attack that claimed the ambassador’s life was the latest in a long line of attacks on Western diplomats and officials in Libya in the months leading up to September 11, 2012. It was clearly never, as Administration officials once insisted, the result of a popular protest,” the committee’s chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and subcommittee chairman, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, write. “In addition, multiple U.S. federal government officials have confirmed to the Committee that, prior to the September 11 attack, the U.S. mission in Libya made repeated requests for increased security in Benghazi. The mission in Libya, however, was denied these resources by officials in Washington.” Continue reading
“We have written to you multiple times on this matter and have yet to receive a sufficient response…Despite our repeated requests for all responsive documents and communications, the Treasury Department has only proffered a limited number of documents, many of which were already publicly available. Documents recently made public under the Freedom of Information Act, however, demonstrate that the Treasury Department was “the driving force” behind the decision to terminate the pensions of Delphi’s salaried employees. Although the Treasury Department has maintained that PBGC alone made the decision to terminate the pensions of Delphi’s salaried employees, these documents appear to indicate that Treasury Department officials and members of President Obama’s Auto Task Force played a large role in this decision,” write Issa and Turner. Continue reading
“For too many of those federal employees who spoke up to expose wasteful spending and criminal behavior in the past it was true that: no good deed goes unpunished. It is a sad truth that many of these whistleblowers faced reprisal because they embarrassed those in power who were happy to waste taxpayer money or violate the law. By passing the Whistleblower Protection and Enhancement Act today, the House of Representatives sent a clear message to those who help us protect the American people and their hard-earned tax dollars: We stand beside you.” Continue reading
Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, and House Oversight Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-NC, confronted the Justice Department with revelations that a political appointee at the Department arranged a quid pro quo for the City of St. Paul, Minnesota to drop a Supreme Court lawsuit, Magner v. Gallagher. Continue reading
“This is highly significant as it is the first Medicare demonstration project that GAO has ever recommended cancelling,” Issa and Lankford write. “If the Department continues to ignore the Committee’s request, we will consider the use of compulsory process.” Continue reading
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) today called for President Barack Obama to show leadership in enacting actual changes to the criminal code following the President’s announcement of an executive order that borrows heavily from bipartisan and bicameral legislation being led by Oversight Subcommittee Chairman James Lankford (R-OK) in the House. Continue reading
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) had been planning to continue to severely overpay the State of New York for services provided, and in some cases not provided, at its developmental centers for the next five years. Continue reading
Today House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa released a new staff report entitled, “The Federal Government’s Failure to Prevent and End Medicaid Overpayments,” which examines outrageous abuses of federal tax dollars within the Medicaid program, specifically regarding New York State developmental centers. Continue reading