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Conflicts of Interest
Related Resources (government documents and letters)
POGO Files
FDA Advisors who Endorsed Contraceptive had Industry Ties
January 12, 2012
POGO Letter: FDA Advisors on Yaz and Yasmin Have Industry Ties
January 11, 2012
Lawrence Lessig Makes the Case for Bipartisan Reform to Achieve Less Corrupt Democracy that Advances the Public Interest Lessig is focused like a laser beam on the challenge of finding common cause—that transcends party or ideology—around the urgent need to liberate Congress from the thrall of lobbyist cash.
December 14, 2011
It's Final--No More Lobbyists on Federal Advisory Committees
October 6, 2011
POGO Joins Groups in Support of Clean Up Government Act of 2011
September 7, 2011
Podcast: Conflict Zone: Increasing Transparency of NIH-Funded Researchers' Financial Conflicts of Interest In May 2010, leaders at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) proposed a rule that would require NIH-funded researchers to publicly disclose their financial arrangements with drug and medical device companies.
August 2, 2011
This proposal would bring a much needed dose of transparency to federally funded medical research. Now, one thing stands in its way: the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). POGO is concerned that OMB will weaken or block this proposal, and in July, we sent a letter urging OMB to leave the rule intact.
For this podcast, POGO Staff Scientist Ned Feder and POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian discuss why this proposal is so important. After we recorded this podcast, Nature News reported that the proposal has been dropped. Things aren't completely final just yet--but if the NIH's disclosure proposal does wind up on the cutting room floor, it would be a significant blow to transparency and taxpayer interests.
Podcast: They Say They Want a Revolution: More Than 200 Former SEC Employees Passed through Revolving Door to Work for the Industry They Oversaw POGO staffers discuss POGO's latest report and accompanying database examining the issue of the revolving door and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
May 23, 2011
Podcast: Family Matters In March 2011, AllGov reported that DARPA, the Pentagon's premier research arm, had awarded a contract to a company founded by the agency's director. Wired's Spencer Ackerman joined POGO staffers to discuss how it all went down.
April 26, 2011
POGO Supports Effort to Stregthen Disclosure of Lobbying Contacts Within the Executive Branch
August 19, 2010
Defense Working Out Contractor Conflict Kinks
July 22, 2010
POGO's Public Comment Regarding Conflicts of Interest in Major Defense Acquisition Programs
July 21, 2010
Contractor conflict of interest rule needs improvement
January 12, 2010
Another Conflicted Nominee Takes Office
September 10, 2009
Appropriating Justice
July 17, 2008
Senator Proposes Solutions to Contracting Fraud
June 25, 2008
DOJ Grant Program: Cronyism And Favoritism Taint Process
June 19, 2008
Getting Byrned by Justice: Favoritism in the Department of Justice Byrne Discretionary Grant Program In awarding federal grants, it is standard practice for a federal agency to require that a competitive grant proposal go through a peer review process in order to evaluate the merit of the application. POGO has found that multiple FY2007 Byrne Discretionary Grants appear to have been awarded outside of the peer review process, and believes there are even questions of patronage and conflicts of interest by DOJ appointees. Documents obtained by POGO indicate that DOJ awarded 13 grants without evaluating them through the peer review process, and at least two of those grants appear to involve conflicts of interest between the grantee and DOJ appointees in the offices awarding those grants.
June 19, 2008
Flawed Thunderbirds Contract Tainted with Improper Influence
April 18, 2008
Bush Legal Eagles Soar To Prestigious Private Roosts
April 14, 2008
Conflicts of Interest Rules Causing Conflicts
March 28, 2008
Air Force Wants Contractors to Write Its Strategy
March 28, 2008
DOJ Issues Guidelines on Corporate Monitors
March 11, 2008
Contractors are more than a shadow government
March 11, 2008
Lobbyists, Defense Contractors Held Holiday Party for House Government Reform Committee
January 13, 2006
Testimony before Defense Acquisition Review Panel should not be limited to defense contractors
September 2, 2005
Letter to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge
July 8, 2003
Related Resources
DOD challenges defense contractors on ethics and integrity
by Kenneth J. Krieg, Department of Defense
Veterans Health Administration: Inadequate Controls over Miscellaneous Obligations Increase Risk over Procurement Transactions
Statement of Kay L. Daly, Director Financial Management and Assurance, Government Accountability Office, Report #GAO-10-307T
December 16, 2009
Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program: Case Studies Show Fraud and Abuse Allowed Ineligible Firms to Obtain Millions of Dollars in Contracts
Statement of Gregory D. Kutz, Managing Director, Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report #GAO-10-306T
December 16, 2009
Results in Brief: Contracted Advisory and Assistance Services for the U.S. Army Future Combat Systems
Inspector General, Department of Defense, Department of Defense Report No. D-2010-024
November 24, 2009
Inside the White House Advisory Group: Influential Business Leaders, Former Officials, Sit at the Homeland Security Table
By Christopher Logan, Congressional Quarterly
October 18, 2002
POGO in the News
Group seeks re-vote on birth control clot risk, Anna Yukhananov, Reuters, January 12, 2012
The Yaz Men: Members of FDA panel reviewing the risks of popular Bayer contraceptive had industry ties, Jeanne Lenzer and Keith Epstein, Ten Miles Square; The Washington Monthly (blog), January 9, 2012
Air Force mentor's ties illustrate conflict of interest, Tom Vanden Brook and Ray Locker, USA Today, November 29, 2011
Contractors challenge prohibition against campaign contributions, Sarah Chacko, Federal Times, October 20, 2011
Drilling Down: Behind Veneer, Doubt upon Future of Natural Gas, Robbie Brown, Recent Business News, June 27, 2011
Government agency under fire for contract to director’s ex-firm, By John T. Bennett, The Hill, March 6, 2011
Earmarks wane but lobbying doesn't, By Chris Frates, Politico, January 28, 2011
Military 'mentors' quit over disclosure rules, By Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today, January 20, 2011
Pentagon Issues Ethics Memo Before Gutting Conflict-of-Interest Rules, By Spencer Ackerman, Wired; Danger Room, January 4, 2011
Pentagon Issues Ethics Memo Before Gutting Conflict-of-Interest Rules, By Spencer Ackerman, Wired; Danger Room, January 4, 2011
Pentagon issues conflict of interest rule for contractors, By Marjorie Censer, The Washington Post, January 3, 2011
From the Pentagon to the private sector, By Bryan Bender, The Boston Globe, December 26, 2010
Pentagon stops shielding senior mentors from disclosure, By Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today, November 17, 2010
Financial disclosure ordered for military mentors, By Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today, October 14, 2010
‘Revolving door’ is still spinning for lawmakers, lobbyists, By Diana Marrero, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 30, 2010
Proposed conflict of interest rule is a lightning rod for criticism, By Robert Brodsky, Government Executive (govexec.com), July 27, 2010
Job door revolves despite fed rule; Career official walks thin line, By Jim McElhatton, The Washington Times, June 16, 2010
Conflict of Interest Worries Raised in Spill Tests, By Ian Urbina, The New York Times, May 20, 2010
N.Y. Times still pays Obama's nominee to Army post; Lawyer would probe news leaks, By Jim McElhatton, The Washington Times, April 1, 2010
Nominee's ties to TSA contractors raise ethics concerns, By Chris Strohm, GovernmentExecutive.com, March 16, 2010
Pentagon panel has contractor contacts, By Ray Locker and Ken Dilanian, USA Today, March 1, 2010
Taiwan’s $1 billion missile buy from Raytheon under review by watchdog group, By Michael Richardson, The Examiner, February 9, 2010
Watchdog wants all Pentagon official's contacts with Raytheon, By Bryan Bender, The Boston Globe; Boston.com, February 8, 2010
Tracking The Money Obama Gives To Local Law, By Ari Shapiro, National Public Radio (NPR), January 2, 2010
Daschle Had Public and Private Role in Push for Digital Health Records, By Fred Schulte & Emma Schwartz, The Huffington Post, December 15, 2009
Contractors Watching Contractors, By Jeremy Scahill, The Nation, December 10, 2009
Inouye's earmarks go to his donors, By Herbert Sample, Associated Press, December 9, 2009
Congresswoman Maxine Waters faces ethics probe, By Kitty Felde, 89.3 KPCV Southern California Public Radio, November 18, 2009
Boos as Obama taps Yucca supporter, By Stephanie Tavares, Las Vegas Sun, October 21, 2009
Obama's Radioactive Regulator: Why did the White House pick a cheerleader for nuclear energy to oversee the industry?, By Kate Sheppard, Mother Jones, October 20, 2009
Did Hank Paulson Break the Law?, By Nick Baumann, Mother Jones, October 20, 2009
Ten administration officials granted exceptions to ethics rule, By Robert Brodsky, Government Executive, September 9, 2009
Treasury nominee to keep corporate pay, By Jim McElhatton, The Washington Times, May 12, 2009
Nonprofit Lobbyists Want To Work For Obama, , National Journal's Under the Influence, April 9, 2009
Nonprofit Lobbyists Want To Work For Obama, By Bara Vaida , The National Journal Online, April 9, 2009
FEMA Chief of Staff to Recuse Himself from Contracts with Former Employer, By Daniel Fowler, CQ Homeland Security, April 3, 2009
Dennis Blair, By Mark Thompson, TIME Magazine, January 12, 2009
Nonprofit raises issue with pick for intelligence, by Matthew Cella, The Washington Times, January 9, 2009
Retired admiral tapped for top intel position , By Philip Ewing, Navy Times, December 22, 2008
Dennis Blair leading contender for NID, By Jen Dimascio, Politico, November 11, 2008
Stevens and the Need for Government Oversight, By Marthena Cowart, The Hill, October 29, 2008
Department of beams in the eye, By Meredith Wadman, Nature, October 23, 2008
NIH Scolded Employee For Flagging Conflicts, By Ed Silverman, Pharmalot, October 22, 2008
NIH Punished Scientist Who Had Called for Open Records, By Richard Monastersky, The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 22, 2008
Analysis: Bush library corruption charges, By Shaun Waterman, United Press International, July 14, 2008
Justice in Hot Water Over Dubious Grants, By Matthew Blake, Washington Independent, July 3, 2008
Report: DOJ Grantees Getting by with Help from Their Friends, By Ben Protess, ProPublica, June 20, 2008
Panel tees off on Justice grant official's golf outings, By Dan Friedman, CongressDaily, June 20, 2008
Investigators Look for Favoritism in Justice Department Grants, By Carrie Johnson, Washington Post, June 19, 2008
DHS allows industry liaison to keep his business ties, By Ben Bain, Federal Computer Week, February 26, 2008
Mukasey Had Been Overseer Finalist; Attorney General Withdrew His Name After Nomination , By Carrie Johnson, The Washington Post, January 30, 2008
Ex-Officials Benefit From Corporate Cleanup, By Carrie Johnson, Washington Post, January 15, 2008
Association of Bay Area Governments Helps Fund Pentagon Program, By Richard Brenneman, Berkeley Daily Planet, February 27, 2007
Edo director resigns amid conflict-of-interest charges, By James Bernstein, Newsday, August 2, 2006
Pentagon reviews conflict-of-interest accusation, By Andrea Shalal-Esa, Reuters, July 31, 2006
Lou Dobbs Tonight, With Christine Romans, CNN, January 13, 2006
Schmooze Or Lose, by Kimberly Palmer, Government Executive, December 1, 2005
What's Lincoln Group? , , Govexec.com, December 1, 2005
Cronyism in the Bush Administration, With Aaron Brown, Anderson Cooper, Joe Johns, CNN's "Newsnight with Aaron Brown", October 13, 2005
Watchdog group says influence peddling sets stage for breaking law , By William Finn Bennett , NCTimes.com, July 16, 2005
Lawmaker's home sale questioned , By Marcus Stern, Copley News Service, www.signonsandiego.com, June 12, 2005
Boeing Still in the Cross Hairs, By Sally B. Donnelly , Time Magazine, March 21, 2005
Adviser To Ridge, Adviser To Business Partners; Questions on Kerik's 2 roles , By Thomas Maier and Ken Fireman of the Washington bureau contributed to this story. , Newsday, December 11, 2004
Boeing's call for help from Air Force raises more questions, by Byron Acohido, USA Today, December 8, 2003
