Is the Senate’s Russia Investigation Moving Too Fast?
The Washington Post‘s Paul Kane writes: “Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), the chairman and ranking minority party member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, are… Read More
Data Coalition Testifies on Forthcoming OPEN Government Data Act
Photo credit: Data Coalition. Hudson Hollister, Executive Director of the Data Coalition, testified before Congress this week regarding new legislation. “The DATA Act of 2014, which Ranking Member Cummings, then-Chairman… Read More
Promoting Transparency and Stakeholder Engagement in an Era of Complex Government
By Jarrett Dieterle It is a well-known tenet of democracy that citizens must have access to information about the government’s activities, as well as the means by which… Read More
Does Congress Need a Congressional Oversight Office?
Elaine Kamarck’s recent study, “A Congressional Oversight Office: A proposed early warning system for the United States Congress,” describes 1. Congress’ current abdication of its role as overseer… Read More
Open Data and Congressional Oversight
By Hudson Hollister In January 2012, I resigned from my Capitol Hill job to start an organization that I called the Data Transparency Coalition. Now called the… Read More
Overseeing the Executive: Does Congress Have Sufficient Staff?
Lee Drutman, co-director of the Legislative Branch Capacity Working Group, writes on Vox: So what accounts for the Senate’s almost 30-year drought of “notable investigations”? The most obvious explanation… Read More
Making Oversight Win-Win
Source: C-SPAN2 Mere mention of the word “oversight” can make a public administrator queasy. It’s not because bureaucracies inevitably have something tawdry or corrupt to hide. Indeed, government agencies often… Read More
Bridging the Separation of Powers
Source: Wikipedia The separation of powers is a hallmark of democratic systems. Power is divided among different branches or units of government. The legislature legislates, the executive executes and the… Read More
Is Congress Getting a Bum Rap?
Source: GPS.gov In short, yes, to a degree. Much of the work it does seldom appears in the news, so legislators get no credit. So, thanks are owed to Michelle… Read More
ICYMI: A Manual for Conducting Congressional Oversight
Source: Constitution Project Mort Rosenberg spent decades at the Congressional Research Service advising staff and Members how to conduct oversight. After he retired, he published this guide —based upon… Read More