Weekly Spotlight: Gutting Oversight While Ramping up Abuse

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Over the past few weeks, we’ve witnessed a chilling escalation in federal law enforcement abuse, including the ambush arrest and detention of students for engaging in lawful protests. All of this is taking place while the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has effectively gutted three watchdog agencies tasked with investigating allegations of abuse and rights violations.

DHS houses multiple federal law enforcement agencies, making it the largest police cohort in the country. Among the department’s problematic agencies is Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which has a long history of civil and human rights abuses. CBP’s overbroad authority puts anyone who falls within its jurisdiction — an area that goes well beyond just the borders — at risk of abuse by the agency. Issues run deep among various agencies at the department, and POGO has long advocated for better oversight and accountability of the department.

For many federal agencies, oversight begins at the Office of the Inspector General. However, as POGO investigations have revealed multiple times, the watchdog at DHS lacks the independence or integrity to serve in this role and should have been removed long ago. That leaves it to the other watchdog offices within the department to conduct investigations and prevent systemic rights abuses. But now that these offices have been decimated, we are left questioning: Who is watching DHS?

The Trump administration is gutting accountability at DHS while simultaneously taking unprecedented and unlawful measures to ramp up deportation. It’s past time for Congress to step up, do its job, and serve as a check on the executive.

ANALYSIS

Who’s Watching DHS?

In gutting oversight offices, the administration is demolishing key guardrails within the Department of Homeland Security.

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ANALYSIS

Where Is Congress?

The legislative branch has abdicated its duty to serve as a check on the executive.

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ANALYSIS

A New System Won’t Boost Transparency — Fix USASpending.gov

Trump’s recent executive order won’t improve federal spending transparency. Better oversight and data quality on USAspending.gov will.

Read More

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“The abuse of power and corruption that is spreading across federal agencies because of [Elon] Musk’s dual roles is horrifying.”

Danielle Brian, Executive Director, in New York Times

ONE LINERS

“This is in direct violation of federal law. The apportionments database is a critical tool for Congress and the public to hold the executive branch accountable for its spending.”

Faith Williams, Director of the Effective and Accountable Government Program, in Roll Call

“[Elon Musk] stands to make billions of dollars for his company from those very agencies and departments that he is wielding such power over. These are massive contracts and massive conflicts of interest, real impact on what the taxpayer dollar is going toward.”

Danielle Brian, Executive Director, in Scripps News