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Project on Government Oversight

POGO 2005 Accomplishments

The following are just a few examples of POGO's accomplishments in 2005:

HOMELAND SECURITY

  • Congress appropriates $10 million for consolidating nuclear materials, which POGO had recommended to improve security and reduce the waste of taxpayer dollars.

  • Department of Energy transfers weapons-grade nuclear materials from vulnerable site at Los Alamos National Laboratory to more secure site, after POGO's four-year struggle to remove those materials from this site.

CONTRACT OVERSIGHT

  • Congress passes legislation preventing Department of Energy contractors from charging frivolous whistleblower litigation costs to the taxpayer.

  • The government makes agreements with law-breaking contractors available to public.

  • White House drops plan to allow government employees to charge up to $250,000 on government purchase cards.

DEFENSE

  • Senate forces Army to restructure the Future Combat System contract to improve oversight, transparency, and accountability.

  • Senate forces Air Force to restructure the C-130J cargo aircraft contract, which the Pentagon Inspector General has indicated is a disaster for the taxpayers and the people who must fly and maintain these aircraft.

OPEN GOVERNMENT

  • POGO wins lawsuit against then-Attorney General John Ashcroft for illegally retroactively classifying information critical of the FBI.

  • Congress and President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency mount investigations into the government's whistleblower agency in response to a complaint filed by POGO, agency staff, and other organizations.

  • Congress approves funding for the Public Interest Declassification Board that was created to provide independent review of classification decisions.

  • Federal Election Commission Inspector General issues a report confirming POGO's findings that election data is inaccurate and unreliable.

  • Department of Homeland Security abandons proposal to force employees to sign secrecy oaths after criticism from POGO and others.

  • Congress passes state-of-the-art protections for nuclear whistleblowers.