Citizens across America will have a powerful tool to hold their elected leaders accountable come January. The House of Representatives today adopted new standards that increase transparency and improve access to legislative data. All of the information will be publicly available in a searchable format on one website. “With the adoption of these standards, for the first time, all House bills, resolutions and legislative documents will be available in XML in one centralized location,” said House Administration Chairman Dan Lungren (R-CA). “Providing easy access to legislative information increases constituent feedback and ultimately …
Republican leaders this week unveiled a new mobile app that helps Americans follow the action of the House of Representatives from the palm of their hand. The app is available on the iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, and Android phone and tablet. The app, called WhipCast, is the first government app to be simultaneously released on all three major mobile platforms. The project was spearheaded by House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who stars in the promotional video. “Prior Congresses wrote and passed legislation in the dark of the night,” wrote Brian …
Give two U.S. Senators credit for trying to do something about the smoke-and-mirrors games in Washington. The “Honest Budget Act” by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) goes to the heart of public distrust of Congress, namely the dishonest budget gimmicks and accounting tricks. The public is rebelling because too many “budget cuts” have turned out to be spending increases or, at best, promises that a future Congress will curtail spending. By no means does the senators’ legislation fix all the problems, but it’s definitely a good start. They …
Politico reported what many have feared about the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction in a story titled “Supercommittee operating in secret.” Members of this committee are not disclosing details of negotiations on legislation to the press or the American public. The supercommittee has become supersecret about most of what it’s doing. On Tuesday, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) encapsulated the attitude of the members of the Joint Deficit Reduction Committee: “I don’t want to discuss what we discussed.” The Committee is tasked to find $1.2 trillion in savings over the …
Roll Call carries op-eds today from the Ripon Society and Heritage debating the merits of Super Committee transparency. Ripon’s Lou Zickar thinks the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction would benefit from privacy. I argue that’s exactly the wrong approach for the most powerful committee in congressional history. As the Joint Committee prepares for its first hearing tomorrow with Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Elmendorf, they should ensure the American people are part of the conservation. After all, this debate and discourse is exactly what lawmakers need to hear to make an …
The newly formed Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction has its 12 members, but beyond that there’s little known about how exactly it will operate. Congressional leaders have promised transparency of its deliberations. And as of now, though, only the first meeting and final report are required to be publicly accessible. Two weeks ago a handful of Republican senators proposed legislation to make the so-called super committee’s work more transparent. The Sunlight Foundation offered a list of five recommendations. And today at Heritage, former Speaker Newt Gingrich outlined why putting …
A half-dozen Republicans are lobbying Senate leaders to make the newly created Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction transparent in its operations and accessible to the American public. Their proposal includes public attendance at meetings and live television broadcasts. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the six Republicans ask the leaders to “allow this process to unfold before the American people through an open debate.” The effort was spearheaded by Sen. Dean Heller (NV) with the backing of Sens. Kelly Ayotte …
Upon taking control of the U.S. House in January, Republicans implemented sweeping reforms to make the People’s House more transparent and accessible. Now they’ll have a chance to bolster their good-government credentials with the newly created Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. Twelve lawmakers from the House and Senate will serve on the joint committee, according to language in the Budget Control Act. Its goal is to make recommendations to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion. The Sunlight Foundation, an organization that advocates for greater government openness and transparency, earlier …
Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) repeatedly criticized Democrats last year for voting on legislation that members didn’t have time to read. “Read the Bill” language was even included in the GOP’s Pledge to America to ensure lawmakers would have adequate notice to review legislation. “Neither members of Congress or the public were given time to read the trillion-dollar stimulus before it passed. Nobody read the cap-and-trade bill. Nobody read the budget. And yet Democrats approved them anyway,” Boehner said in a video last year. “Every major bill should be posted online and …
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) says the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is finally “beginning to break down the walls of silence and refusal” from the Obama administration about the Operation Fast and Furious scandal. As its chairman, Issa has doggedly pursued answers on the illegal gun trafficking operation run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. This week on Scribecast, we spoke to Issa about Operation Fast and Furious, his investigation of President Obama’s questionable fundraising activities at the White House, and his plan for reforming the U.S. Postal Service. …
