Oversight in your inbox
Weekly newsletter and updates
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.
-
Analysis
Will the president end spying on Americans?
On Friday, President Barack Obama will give a highly anticipated speech on reforming surveillance activities by the National Security Agency (NSA).
-
Analysis
Energy Department Looks for Alternatives to UPF
The Department of Energy has begun looking for cheaper and faster alternatives to the proposed Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12, a muti-billion dollar boondoggle construction project with no end in sight.
-
Report
Watching the Watchdogs: The Good, the Bad, and What We Need from the Inspectors General
Inspectors General are in place to hold their agencies accountable, yet a number lack the strength, independence, and integrity to effectively do so. Our report looks at some notable failures and successes by IGs and suggests places where the IG system can be reformed.
-
Analysis
2013: The Year in Federal Fraud Recoveries
The federal False Claims Act -- still a potent anti-fraud weapon after 150 years.
-
Analysis
Effort to Discredit Snowden Short on Evidence; Ignores Need for NSA Reform
Last June, we learned that the U.S. government was spying on Americans. Since then, we have learned much more, such as that the NSA’s bulk collection of Americans’ communications by Americans has not been essential to preventing terrorist attacks and that the system of oversig...
-
Analysis
Loophole in Law May Allow Pentagon Savings to Escape
A loophole in the Budget Control Act gives congressional appropriators wiggle room to avoid required Pentagon savings as they put the final touches on a new defense spending bill.
-
Analysis
POGO Applauds Retirement of Head of DoD Sexual Assault Program
Shortly after the POGO called for the removal of the head of the Department of Defense’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, the Department announced that Maj. Gen. Gary S. Patton is retiring from the position and will be replaced in January 2014.
-
Analysis
Recent Watchdog Reports Call into Question V-22 Safety
Recent DoD IG reports raise concerns about the readiness of V-22s being deployed.
-
AnalysisOne of Robert Gates’ More Real Legacies
Today's fixation in Washington is former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' so called new revelation, breathlessly reported by the Washington Post (Robert Woodward), the New York Times (Thom Shanker) and others, that Barak Obama was not fully committed to George Bush's (and Ro...
-
Policy Letter
Transpartisan Groups Tell Congress: Spending Smarter on Defense Can Make Us Stronger
A broad-based coalition of groups concerned with wasteful defense spending sent a letter to Congress asking for smart spending cuts on the omnibus spending bill's defense appropriations.
-
Analysis
SEC Finally Finalizes a Revolving Door Rule
After backtracking from a promise to tighten restrictions on its revolving door, the Securities and Exchange Commission is again moving forward with plans to close a loophole in federal ethics rules for senior employees who leave the agency.
-
AnalysisThe Latest Word on F-35 Unit Cost
2013 ended with some outrageous claims from Lockheed-Martin on the oh-so low cost of the F-35 in just a few years. Sadly, the prognostications were reported in multiple major defense media outlets without balance or any checking for the available empirical data. In his first...