Weekly Spotlight: Conflicting stories
The White House has tried all varieties of brazen and illegal approaches to skirt constitutional mandates on federal spending.
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CHECKS AND (IM)BALANCES
Administration digs in its heels on illegal impoundment
The White House has tried all varieties of brazen and illegal approaches to skirt constitutional mandates on federal spending. The latest, revealed in court documents made public, involve a series of “litmus tests” that would require federal agencies to prove they are acting in line with the president’s agenda to receive their funding. This requirement gives Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director Russell Vought and others in the executive branch unprecedented authority to block funding to agencies, overruling federal spending decisions that have already been made by Congress. Our system of government is designed to ensure the consequential decisions of what happens with your tax dollars aren’t made by any one person, but instead by the people’s branch, your representatives in Congress. Congress must check this grab on its power immediately or risk jeopardizing its authority — and worse, abdicating its duty to represent your best interests.
- Why we staunchly opposed Russel Vought’s nomination to the role.
- Congress has taken steps to safeguard its spending decisions next year. This is a start. But Congress will need to act more aggressively and work across the aisle to combat the administration’s tactics.
REPORT BACK
After outrage and pushback, OMB puts federal spending database back online
If you missed our update on Thursday, some good news: After the OMB illegally pulled down a database back in February, limiting the public’s and Congress’s access to important information about how the executive branch is spending congressionally allocated funds, the administration has finally put the database back online thanks to pressure from people like you. This important restitution is proof that the administration does not exist above the rule of law and motivation for why we must keep demanding accountability.
RETALIATION AND REPRISAL
Don’t blame the messenger
The Justice Department is probing DC’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and its so-called “Fake Crime numbers” — numbers which were good enough for DOJ officials to tout when it made them look good. This is the second instance in recent weeks that the White House has waged an internal battle over information that conflicts with the story it is trying to push. Earlier this month, the president fired the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) over an agency report that showed a struggling job market and declining hiring rates — claiming, without evidence, that the “Jobs Numbers were RIGGED” in order to make him look bad. But shooting the messenger does not turn bad to good.
- This is blatant retaliation — against the DC police, against career civil servants, and anyone the administration deems a political adversary or perceives as standing in the way. It creates a chilling effect where people will think twice about saying something that could undermine the administration’s agenda — even if what they’re saying is true.
- The administration replaced the fired BLS head with a political appointee who has a long history of disparaging the agency’s work.
FOLLOW THE MONEY
Yet another congressman caught getting rich quick
(Illustration: Ren Velez / POGO)
As Americans struggle with rising costs, some of our representatives in Congress appear to be using their positions to enrich themselves. Representative Rob Bresnahan Jr. (R-PA) was caught making several highly suspicious, highly revealing stock trades, appearing to benefit off of insider information and possibly off legislation he helped to pass. Bresnahan has reportedly made 626 trades since taking office in January 2025. This is precisely why we need a ban. You deserve assurance that your representatives will put their duty to represent you above their personal financial gain. Such a commitment should be the bare minimum for anyone who serves in government.
- A bipartisan problem... The issue of stock trading exists across the political spectrum, with both Democratic and Republican members of Congress partaking in the deeply unethical practice.
- With bipartisan support for a solution: Polling shows that 86% of voters want to prohibit members of Congress from trading stocks, including clear majorities across party lines. Join us in telling Congress to pass a strong, enforceable ban on stock trading now — and begin to restore the public’s trust at a critical turning point for our democracy.
- ANALYSIS Reclaiming Democracy: How to Build a Government That Deserves Our Trust: We must build a government truly worthy of public trust, reflecting the shared vision of the American people. That government does not yet exist — but we have the power and the obligation to create it, writes POGO’s Danielle Brian.
