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Latest Policy Publications
POGO’s experts push policymakers to enact commonsense reforms that tackle waste, corruption, and abuse of power; hold those who’ve violated the public trust accountable; protect our constitutional rights; and make the government work for all people.
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Public Comment
POGO Comments on VA Rule Helping Some Camp Lejeune Victims
POGO welcomes this VA rule and the benefits it will bring to veterans contaminated at Camp Lejeune. However, we are concerned about several factors that may unnecessarily limit its impact.
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Analysis
Taxpayers Closer to Getting Fair Return on Public Natural Resources
The troubled Royalty-In-Kind program, which benefitted corporations that were extracting resources from public lands, was successfully terminated. But the job’s not done: the Bureau of Land Management needs to prioritize getting taxpayers a fair return on the use of renewable ...
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AnalysisLydia Dennett in The Hill: A Recipe for Wasteful Spending
Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to withdraw from a nuclear deal with the US will affect the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MOX), a multi-billion dollar construction project, and a boondoggle that has been kept alive by politicians, like South Carolina Senat...
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Analysis
GSA Learns Lessons from Lost Recovery Board Data
The General Services Administration announced a new contract with Dun & Bradstreet to provide the government with data on contractors, grantees, and other recipients of federal funds. This deal ensures that any future changes in the way those receiving government funds are...
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Analysis
Reining in Mineral Mismanagement on Public Lands
After the troubled Minerals Management Service was successfully dissolved in 2011, the fight to ensure taxpayers receive their fair share continues as good government groups like POGO argue that minerals on public lands should not be given away for free. POGO recently publishe...
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Analysis
Cleaning Up Coal’s Act
While the Interior Department successfully overhauled regulations for the extraction of natural resources like oil, the federal coal program is due for more changes. POGO recently published the top five public natural resource reforms accomplished in the past eight years and t...
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AnalysisPentagon Admits Half of War Spending Account Is Slush
Tony Bertuca at Inside Defense discovered yet another way Pentagon budget gimmicks are getting worse, finding $30 billion from the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account will go to “enduring requirements” that should be funded through the Department of Defense’s base bu...
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Analysis
POGO and Others Oppose “Trojan Horse” Office for VA Whistleblowers
The Project On Government Oversight, Government Accountability Project, Senior Executives Association, and Public Citizen oppose a Senate measure that could harm Veterans Affairs whistleblowers.
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Analysis
IRS Gears Up for Third Try at Outsourced Tax Collection
Will the IRS’s newest attempt to use debt collection companies to recover delinquent taxes succeed where two previous efforts failed? Early indications are not promising.
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Analysis
Intelligence Community Encouraging Speaking Truth to Power
In a new initiative to incentivize certain kinds of whistleblowing, the U.S. intelligence community announced a new awards program for reporting wrongdoing through appropriate channels. This commitment to encouraging whistleblowing is much welcomed after the IC’s bad history o...
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AnalysisDrilling and Mining on Public Lands: The State of Play
The top five natural resource reforms from the past eight years that benefited American taxpayers and improved transparency in the federal government.
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Analysis
Must-Read: “What Congress Is Actually Good at” (The Atlantic)
POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian tells The Atlantic there are many examples of Congress conducting good oversight investigations under the radar.