Scott Amey, J.D.

Scott Amey is POGO’s general counsel and executive editorial director. In addition to organizational legal demands, he oversees the investigations, research and policy teams, the Center for Defense Information (CDI), and The Constitution Project (TCP). Scott also participates in contract oversight investigations, including reviews of federal spending on products and services, the responsibility of federal contractors, and conflicts-of-interest and ethics concerns.

He has spent years testifying before Congress and federal agency panels, submitting public comments on proposed regulations, educating the public by working with the media, and publishing reports, analysis, and commentary on federal acquisition, ethics, and open government issues.

Scott rejoined the staff in 2003, having previously worked at POGO in the mid-1990s as one of the organization’s most prolific investigators. Scott left POGO in 1998 to attend law school, after which he clerked for the Honorable James A. Kenney III, at the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland from 2001 to 2003. He received a J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 2001, and a B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1993. Scott is licensed to practice law in Maryland.

Highlights

He has appeared on CNN, NBC, CNBC, ABC, and NPR, and has been quoted in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Times, ProPublica, Washington Examiner, and USA Today, among many other outlets, and often provides background information and leads to the media.

• In 2019, Scott testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform about “H.R. 1 and Executive Branch Conflicts of Interest.”
• He has recently authored or coauthored articles about Espionage Act concerns, congressional actions required after the Mueller report, contractors ripping off taxpayers, and risky contract types.
• In recent years, Scott has also testified before Congress about the “Burdens of Over classification and Government Secrecy,” “Using the Suspension and Debarment System Effectively to Avoid Risky Contractors,” “Contractors: How Much Are They Costing the Government?,” and “Intelligence Community Contractors: Are We Striking the Right Balance?”
• Scott coauthored a report debunking the myth that service contracts result in cost savings as compared to federal employees, and he continues exposing efforts to conceal the true size and cost of the contractor workforce.
• He helped expose illegal activities at Area 51, resulting in the black facility complying with environmental laws.
• Scott has also authored reports on Boston’s Big Dig project, safety concerns at nuclear power plants, EPA acquiescence to chemical companies, and inaccuracies in federal election records.