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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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Analysis
Farm Bill Debate: Corporate Privacy or Public’s Right to Know
The Farm Bill has been in and out of the news for months, but one troublesome element has not yet received enough attention: harmful secrecy provisions.
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Analysis
New Documents Show Former Rep. Ran Through Revolving Door
Former Representative Heather Wilson has come under fire for her close relationship with U.S. nuclear labs, including negotiating her lucrative contract while still in office, receiving almost half a million for questionable consulting work, and accepting a position on an NNSA...
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Policy Letter
POGO Joins Over 40 Groups in urging the Farm Bill Conference Committee to Preserve FOIA Rights
POGO and partners urge the conference committee members to cut language that would unnecessarily shield a large amount of agricultural data from public access.
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Policy Letter
POGO Urges Air Force to Delay F-35 Basing Decision
As the civilian and military heads of the Air Force, you are in the process of selecting the first National Guard base at which to beddown the F-35A Lightning II, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter.
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Analysis
Will Congress Fix How Contractors Are Held Accountable?
POGO has proposed changes to the federal government's suspension and debarment system for years, and supports the proposed SUSPEND Act, which would consolidate the vast suspension and debarment system.
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Analysis
Congressional Members Question Need for B61 Refurbishment
The House Armed Services Committee held a hearing this week to ask if the U.S. truly needs the $12 billion life extension program for the B61 nuclear bomb.
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Analysis
NSA Spying, Meet the USA FREEDOM Act
The American people, most Members of Congress, and even the President have been kept in the dark far too long about National Security Agency (NSA) activities that threaten some of our fundamental rights and relationships. The USA FREEDOM Act has several reforms to re-balance t...
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AnalysisTake Her Deep: Reforming the U.S. Silent Service
In 1959, The U.S. Navy commissioned its final diesel-electric submarine combatant, the USS Blueback, which served until 1990. She was the last of her kind in the American Navy because of its insistence, or some would say, dogma, that all combatant submarines must be nuclear p...
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AnalysisA Personal Remembrance: Black Jack Shanahan, VADM (USN Ret.)
Jack Shanahan died on 10 September 2013 at the age of 90 after a long and well-lived life. He and I became friends while I was working in the Pentagon in the 1990s. By then, he was long-retired from the Navy, and he was Director of the Center for Defense Information.
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Policy Letter
POGO Endorses Mark-up of Bipartisan SUSPEND Act, Reforming the Suspension and Debarment System
The Project On Government Oversight endorses the “Stop Unworthy Spending Act” of 2013 or the SUSPEND Act. The bill would create the Board of Suspension and Debarment, providing a centralized body to manage the suspension and debarment system.
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Analysis
New Database Tracks Revolving Door Between DoD and Defense Industry
A new database released by the Pentagon revealed that hundreds of senior defense officials requested ethics opinions as they moved from federal jobs to the private sector. A large majority, 84 percent, had a specific employer in mind, most of which were defense companies.
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Analysis
DoD OIG Expands into “Buy American” Compliance
POGO urged the Defense Department Inspector General to expand its audit into domestic preference laws. The IG recently announced that is would expand the audit, and now it will investigate DoD compliance with the Berry Amendment and the Buy American Act.