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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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ReportData Matching Barriers Prevent Inspectors General From Reaching Full Potential
Complex legal and process barriers are preventing agencies and Inspectors General from sharing readily available data.
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Report
Federal Improper Payments Are Significant, Costing Taxpayers Billions
The federal government makes improper payments every year, costing taxpayers over $1 trillion dollars since 2003.
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Report
POGO’s 2015 Baker’s Dozen of Suggested Congressional Oversight Priorities and Legislative Reforms
Implementing the following recommendations will help to the country achieve a more effective, accountable, open, and ethical government—one that is truly responsive to the needs of its citizens.
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Report
Loopholes, Filing Failures, and Lax Enforcement: How the Foreign Agents Registration Act Falls Short
The Foreign Agents Registration Act requires lobbyists working on behalf of foreign interests to disclose details about their relationships with their foreign clients, but POGO found that the law is not always obeyed and the Justice Department does not always enforce it.
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ReportHundreds of Justice Department Attorneys Violated Professional Rules, Laws, or Ethical Standards
Over the last decade, hundreds of federal prosecutors and other Justice employees violated rules, laws, or ethical standards governing their work.
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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.
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Report
Uranium Processing Facility: When You’re in a Hole, Just Stop Digging
The Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 Complex is a construction project that is vastly over budget, behind schedule, and facing serious questions about its ability to contribute to the mission of the National Nuclear Security Administration.
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Report
Dangerous Liaisons: Revolving Door at SEC Creates Risk of Regulatory Capture
A revolving door blurs the lines between one of the nation’s most important regulatory agencies and the interests it regulates. Former employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) routinely help corporations try to influence SEC rulemaking, counter the agency’s in...
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Report
Spending Even Less, Spending Even Smarter
Recommendations for National Security Savings, FY 2013 to FY 2022: Deficit Reduction - $688 Billion
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Report
U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex: Energy Department Plans to Waste Billions of Dollars on Unneeded Los Alamos Lab Facility
The Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement-Nuclear Facility is a proposed facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The facility would enable the United States to dramatically increase its production of plutonium pits, which are primary components of nuclear weapo...
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Report
Bad Business: Billions of Taxpayer Dollars Wasted on Hiring Contractors
Service contract award dollars have dramatically increased in recent years based on the assumption that shifting work to the private sector saves taxpayer dollars. POGO’s report compares total annual compensation for federal and private sector employees with federal contractor...
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Report
Spending Less, Spending Smarter: Recommendations for National Security Savings FY 2012 to FY 2021
U.S. spending (adjusted for inflation) on national security is higher than at any point during the Cold War and accounts for more than half of all discretionary spending.[1] Yet the U.S. faces no existential threats as we did then, and we are drawing down in Iraq and Afghanist...