The biennial Government Accountability Office high-risk list was released today, and it’s good news for the Federal Aviation Administration — it’s been removed from the list, where it’s languished since 1995. Everybody else, not so much. The list is up to 30 agencies and programs, including three additions this year: the federal financial regulatory agencies (shouldn’t this have been on here a few years ago?), the Food and Drug Administration’s medical products oversight and the Environmental Protection Agency’s processes for assessing, cataloguing and controlling toxic chemicals. Take a look at the list here. Then come back and tell us what…
President Obama has just filled four assistant attorney general slots: David Kris is assistant AG for national security. Tony West is assistant AG for the Justice Department’s civil division. Lanny Breuer is assistant AG for Justice’s criminal division. Christine Varney is assistant AG for the antitrust division. Kris was associate deputy attorney general from 2000 to 2003, where he supervised the government’s use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. But Kris had serious reservations about the Bush administration’s legal justifications for warrantless wiretapping of U.S. citizens and residents, and went public with his concerns three years after leaving Justice.…
The Senate Finance Committee approved the nomination of Timothy Geithner to be Treasury secretary a few minutes ago by an 18-5 vote, according to our congressional reporter Rebecca Neal. The committee’s approval was expected despite concerns by many senators that Geithner failed to pay more than $30,000 in self-employment taxes earlier this decade when he worked at the International Monetary Fund. Geithner apologized for the error, repaid his owed amount, and said it was an unintentional mistake. Some senators including Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said it sends a bad signal to appoint a Treasury secretary — which oversees the IRS…
Today on FederalTimes.com and FedLine: The Government Accountability Office’s biennial High Risk List comes out at noon today and we’ll bring you the full accounting (pun intended) of programs on the list and those that might have finally made it off. More on the mark up of the House economic stimulus package by the appropriations committee and a round up of what other committees plan to add to the bill. And more on the Obama administrations executive orders. Check back with us throughout the day!
It took several hours but the House Appropriations Committee passed its economic stimulus package last night in a 35 to 22 vote. The vote means the bill will likely make it to the House floor by Jan. 28. Committee chairman Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wisc., has said he hopes the bill will pass the Senate before the Presidents’ Day break. Among the amendments added to the original bill: $150 million to purchase commodities for food banks. An extension of the authorization for the controversial E-Verify program for five years. A mandate that iron and steel used in construction projects funded by…
If you had a ticket for Tuesday’s inauguration and couldn’t get in, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies would like to apologize. The Washington Post reported today that nearly 4,000 ticketholders, most in the blue or purple sections, were shut out of the inauguration by police officers who said the sections were full, despite visitors lining up at 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. At one point, the line for one of the gates stretched into the Interstate 395 tunnel underneath the Reflecting Pool. Ticketholders reported that officers weren’t receiving communications from others regarding the situation and crowds began to…
We noted earlier today that President Barack Obama wasted no time in laying out a series of executive orders designed to set the tone for an open, transparent government that is responsive to the American public. Part of that effort comes in the form of an ethics pledge that every political appointee will have to sign. The pledge applies to all appointees brought on board after Jan. 20 — including every non-career appointee to the Senior Executive Service or equivalent systems, policymaking and confidential jobs under Schedule C, and all other noncareer slots filled by the president or vice president.…
The Senate just voted to confirm Hillary Clinton as the secretary of state. The final vote was 94-to-2: Only Sens. David Vitter, R-La., and Jim DeMint, R-S.C., voted ‘nay.’ But the Senate Judiciary committee is postponing its vote on Eric Holder’s nomination as attorney general. The Republicans on the committee apparently asked for the delay. Holder has proved controversial because of decisions he made as a deputy attorney general during the Clinton administration.
President Obama put a freeze on new regulation yesterday — nothing will be approved until his Cabinet secretaries have a chance to review it. The announcement came after months of frantic “midnight regulation” by federal agencies. And it’s obviously intended to block new rules left unfinished by the Bush administration. But will it affect some of the most controversial Bush-era regulations? I’ve been digging through old copies of the Federal Register — a fun way to spend the afternoon, I assure you — and the answer is a resounding “no.” Some of the most controversial rules are already in effect.…
… but he doesn’t blame the tax preparation software for his tax problems. Just one of many exciting facts from the Treasury secretary-designate’s confirmation hearing this morning. Geithner, by the way, is likely to be confirmed despite the tax issue. Senate Finance committee chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana, plans to hold a vote tomorrow, despite objections from several Republican committee members. The nomination would then go before the full Senate.