Government Executive - Authors - Andrew Joseph

POGO site monitoring inspector general vacancies

Andrew Joseph, National Journal — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:30:00 -0500

The Project on Government Oversight is out with a new website tracking which government agencies do not have a permanent inspector general and how long those vacancies have existed.

The inspector general post at theState Department, for example, has been vacant for 1,484 days, while the Interior Department has been missing an inspector general for 1,080 days, according to the website, dubbed "Where Are All the Watchdogs?"

The site also tracks who is in charge of nominating an inspector general and if a person has been nominated.

"When an agency does not have a permanent IG, accountability is reduced and abuses can proceed unchecked," POGO said.

"Acting IGs are generally less effective than permanent IGs because their temporary status impedes their ability to provide leadership and set long-term priorities," the group said. "Unlike permanent IGs, acting IGs do not go through a vetting process, raising concerns about their independence and effectiveness."

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Environmental groups drop six figures to applaud EPA, Obama

Andrew Joseph, National Journal — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:03:00 -0500

The Natural Resources Defense Council and Environment America are teaming up on a six-figure online ad campaign praising the Environmental Protection Agency and President Obama for supporting efforts to cut pollution from cars and certain power plants.

The ads will run on social media and local news websites in four states key to the debate over emissions and the 2012 election: Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

"The standards will save tens of thousands of American lives, prevent hundreds of thousands of cases of childhood asthma symptoms, and avoid tens of thousands of heart attacks, according to the EPA," NRDC president Frances Beinecke said in a statement. "These health benefits are expected to generate up to billions of dollars of savings. The magnitude of these health benefits could make this rule one of the biggest public health and environmental accomplishments of the Obama administration."

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State legislatures urge Congress, Obama to 'go big' on deficit reduction

Andrew Joseph, National Journal — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Remember all those calls for the Super Committee to "go big" on deficit reduction? Well, the committee's history, but the "go big" supporters haven't given up.

In a letter sent to congressional leaders and President Obama, the heads of the National Conference of State Legislatures argued the country needs to restore its fiscal well-being. They wrote:

We strongly urge you, President Obama, to include in your FY 2013 proposed federal budget a comprehensive, aggressive and bold plan to address America's long-term fiscal gap. We respectfully suggest that your plan last year that would have reduced the deficit by $4 trillion is a starting point.
We likewise urge Congressional leadership to pass a budget resolution that adheres to the "go big" principle. Putting America on a sustainable fiscal path is crucial. Many members of Congress have reached that conclusion in their own proposals, letters and statements. The private sector has also voiced similar sentiments. NCSL believes that the White House and Congress need to examine all possible avenues for deficit reduction, including discretionary spending, entitlement reform and revenue-related options.

The writers close the letter by saying they "understand that funding targeted for state and local governments has been and will continue to be reduced. However, our message remains the same - states will struggle if a disproportionate and excessive burden is transferred to us."

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Whistleblower bill draws lobbying

Andrew Joseph — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500

flickr user stevendepolo

A bill that critics warn weakens whistleblower protections quietly moved through a House subcommittee last month and now has supporters like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce pushing the full committee to quickly pass it.

The Whistleblower Improvement Act of 2011, introduced by Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.), would require whistleblowers, with some exceptions, to report criminal activity internally in addition to filing a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Supporters of the bill say the internal reports allow companies to stop criminal activity early, relieving the pressure on an overburdened SEC that is failing to address complaints. The House Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises passed the bill last month, moving it to the full Financial Services Committee.

Tom Quaadman, the vice president of the Chamber's Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness, said he could not discuss the specifics of the Chamber's strategy, but described it as a "shoe-leather lobbying campaign." The Chamber has partnered with organizations like the Retail Industry Leaders Association and corporations like AT&T and UPS to explain to SEC officials the problems with current whistleblower rules.

Quaadman acknowledged that the bill, if it gets out of the House, faces a tougher road in the Senate. That has allowed the bill's opponents to relax a bit so far, but a coalition of groups is ready to launch a major counter-campaign if the bill starts gaining momentum, said Angela Canterbury, the Project on Government Oversight's public policy director.

She said the bill's progress was a "response to industry pressure."

The bill's critics, including POGO, the AFL-CIO and Americans for Financial Reform, also wrote a letter to lawmakers warning of its impact on whistleblower protections.

The bill, the letter said, "is an extreme approach that would silence would-be whistleblowers, endanger critical inside informants, undermine investigations, hamstring enforcement at the SEC and [Commodity Futures Trading Commission], and provide lawbreaking financial firms with an escape hatch from accountability."

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Immigration-reform advocate to lead Domestic Policy Council

Andrew Joseph — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Haraz N. Ghanbari/AP file photo

President Obama has tapped Cecilia Muñoz, the current White House director of intergovernmental affairs, to replace Melody Barnes as director of the Domestic Policy Council. Muñoz has spent her entire career focusing on immigration reform and the rights of immigrants, and she was a key figure in the negotiations over a comprehensive immigration bill advocated by President George W. Bush in 2006 and 2007. She won a MacArthur "genius award" for her work on immigration in 2000. "Over the past three years, Cecilia has been a trusted adviser who has demonstrated sound judgment day in and day out," Obama said in a statement. "Cecilia has done an extraordinary job working on behalf of middle-class families, and I'm confident she'll bring the same unwavering dedication to her new position." Barnes left the post at the end of the year. Muñoz's appointment to the White House's top domestic policy spot is a signal to Hispanic voters that Obama has not given up on immigration reform, despite the lack of progress in his first term. Obama and other administration officials have consistently expressed frustration at the blockade on earned legalization from congressional Republicans, but that has not appeased those who care about immigration reform the most. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Muñoz said she would try in her new position to fulfill the goals outlined by Obama in a speech last month advocating for the middle class. "That was a very clear vision and approach for making sure the American Dream is accessible to everyone in this country," she told the Journal. "That's going to be my guidepost." The administration has made other steps that are overtly immigrant-friendly in recent months. Last week, the Department of Homeland Security announced a tweak to the green-card application process that makes it easier for some minor children and spouses of U.S. citizens to remain in the country while awaiting legal visas. Fawn Johnson contributed to this report.

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Lawmakers who back Joint Strike Fighter get more cash from contractors, report finds

Andrew Joseph — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0500

joint report from the Project on Government Oversight and the Center for Responsive Politics. The analysis found that individuals working for the four top contractors -- Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems and Pratt & Whitney -- focused their contributions on House members in the JSF Caucus, which was formed last month by Reps. Kay Granger (R-Texas) and Norm Dicks (D-Wash.). The report also notes that JSF Caucus members' states "receive a disproportionate share of JSF dollars and, in turn, jobs for their constituents." The JSF program is meant to develop and test next-generation strike aircraft, but critics have grown frustrated with the program's delays and rising costs and want to divert funding away from it. ]]>

Veterans Day basketball game to tip off on carrier that buried bin Laden at sea

Andrew Joseph — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0500

The aircraft carrier on which Osama bin Laden's body was washed, placed in a white sheet, and slid into in the Arabian Sea is now docked near San Diego and is playing host to the first-ever Carrier Classic, Friday night's basketball game between North Carolina and Michigan State. President Obama will attend the game in honor of Veterans Day.

Starting on Wednesday, a crane began lifting pieces of the basketball court used at the 2011 NCAA championship game onto the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson, the Los Angeles Times reported. Portable bathrooms, concession stands, cameras, lights and about 7,000 seats were also brought onto the carrier, as a San Diego Union-Tribune graphic of the carrier shows. Most of the seats were reserved for members of the military.

Sailors who helped set up the court and other facilities received tickets to the game, according to the Navy. A second court and 2,000 seats were also constructed in the carrier's hangar bay in case of rain, but weather reports show mostly sunny skies with temperatures in the mid-60s Friday afternoon in San Diego.

Players will wear special uniforms for the game that feature a camouflage pattern over their school colors, according to the Military Times.

The Vinson, which is almost 1,100 feet long and about 250 feet wide, was commissioned in 1982 and is anchored in Coronado in San Diego Bay. Later this month, it is heading out on a regular six-month deployment, according to the Union-Tribune.

In an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes three days after he announced bin Laden had been killed, Obama did not mention the Vinson by name, but described how he and his administration chose to bury him at sea.

"It was a joint decision. We thought it was important to think through ahead of time how we would dispose of the body if he were killed in the compound," Obama said. "And I think that what we tried to do was, consulting with experts in Islamic law and ritual, to find something that was appropriate that was respectful of the body.

"Frankly we took more care on this than, obviously, bin Laden took when he killed 3,000 people. He didn't have much regard for how they were treated and desecrated. But that, again, is something that makes us different. And I think we handled it appropriately."

The game tips off at 4:15 p.m. PST following remarks from the president. It will be televised on ESPN and more than 3 million people are expected to watch.

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Five of six super committee senators see major drops in fundraising, group says

Andrew Joseph — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0500

report from the Sunlight Foundation.

Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont., raised 71 percent less this quarter; John Kerry, D-Mass., raised 82 percent less; Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., raised 64 percent less; Patty Murray, D-Wash., raised 85 percent less; and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., raised 32 percent less. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, had a slight increase in fundraising, Sunlight reported.

There have been calls for super committee members to shun fundraising as they debate how to cut over $1 trillion from the federal budget to ensure neutrality.

Two of the House members on the Super Committee reported increased fundraising in the third quarter over the last quarter, the Sunlight Foundation reported last month.

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Obama orders Fort Monroe preservation as a way to create jobs

Andrew Joseph — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0400

The White House said preserving the site, which became an army outpost in 1819 and closed in September, could ultimately lead to thousands of new jobs in Virginia, an important swing state where Obama has made frequent appearances to push his jobs plan.

The designation is the latest in a recent string of executive orders from Obama that try to address lingering economic problems. There are bills moving through Congress that would make Fort Monroe a national park, but Obama, as he has with his other executive orders, emphasized that unemployed Americans can't wait for Congress to take action.

"Fort Monroe has played a part in some of the darkest and some of the most heroic moments in American history," Obama said in a statement. "But today isn't just about preserving a national landmark -- it's about helping to create jobs and grow the local economy. Steps like these won't replace the bold action we need from Congress to get our economy moving and strengthen middle-class families, but they will make a difference."

Just transitioning the fort to a national monument will not generate many jobs, an official with the Fort Monroe Authority said. But the president's plan to protect the property and buildings lays the groundwork for a reuse plan to be implemented, which would create almost 3,000 jobs in tourism and other business opportunities, according to the Authority.

The site has played host to a number of landmark events in American history. The Dutch first brought African slaves there in 1619; during the Civil War it remained in Union hands and welcomed slaves escaping from the South. But in 2005, it was slotted to close as the military sought to cut costs. The Army left the site in September of this year.

Tuesday was the first time Obama has used the authority granted to presidents under the Antiquities Act to designate sites as national monuments, according to the White House. President Theodore Roosevelt was the first to do so, naming Devil's Tower in Wyoming a monument in 1906, and the act has been used to preserve sites including the Grand Canyon, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty.

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Deployment to Central Africa part of larger U.S. effort against LRA

Andrew Joseph — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

President Obama's announcement last week that he was deploying 100 U.S. military advisers to Central Africa to help forces there trying to kill or capture Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony was the latest and largest step in an ongoing campaign to address the conflict in the region.

Administration officials insist there wasn't a specific impetus that prompted Obama to make the decision; deploying military personnel has been in the works for some time, they said.

But the rhetoric pointing to such a decision has been voiced in recent days.

"We're hopeful here in the very near future to be able to increase the number of U.S. military advisers and trainers" in the region, General Carter Ham, the commander of U.S. Africa Command, said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Oct. 4. Ham also said, "If you ever had any question that there is evil in this world, it is resident in the person of Joseph Kony and in that organization."

The Bush administration started providing the Ugandan military with logistical support and training in late 2008 after Kony refused to sign a peace agreement with Uganda, said Paul Ronan, the director of advocacy at Resolve, a non-profit organization trying to end the LRA conflict.

The State Department continued to offer some aid to regional forces trying to stop the LRA, and the movement gained momentum with the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009, which easily passed through Congress with bipartisan support and was signed by Obama in May 2010. It appropriated more than $20 million to communities impacted by the conflict, but, perhaps more importantly, showed Obama there was support for greater engagement in the region and encouraged the administration to come up with a broader strategy that included both advising regional militaries and protecting local citizens, Ronan said.

That's what the roughly 100 military personnel will be doing, said Ronan, who attended a White House briefing with senior administration officials on Friday about the announcement.

Resolve and other non-profit organizations that focus on the conflict have welcomed the announcement, but said they would like to see further efforts at civilian protection and that the United States needs to make sure that the recommendations the advisers compile are implemented.

"Our perspective is 'great job,' but let's not take our foot off the gas pedal," Ronan said.

The administration, meanwhile, is stressing that the U.S. forces, while combat-equipped, are not there to partake in the fighting.

"These advisers will work with our regional partners and the African Union in the field to strengthen information-sharing, enhance coordination and planning, and improve the overall effectiveness of military operations and the protection of civilians," Victoria Nuland, a State Department spokesperson, said in a statement on Friday. "These advisers will not engage LRA forces unless necessary for self-defense."

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Obama deploys 100 U.S. military personnel to central Africa

Andrew Joseph — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

President Obama has authorized the deployment of about 100 U.S. troops and military personnel to advise forces in central Africa fighting to remove Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, from the battlefield.

In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, Obama outlined the LRA's suspected atrocities and why he ordered the deployment to Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The first troops arrived in Uganda on Wednesday.

"I believe that deploying these U.S. Armed Forces furthers U.S. national security interests and foreign policy and will be a significant contribution toward counter-LRA efforts in central Africa," Obama wrote.

The deployment will include two combat-equipped teams and communications and logistics personnel, but "although the U.S. forces are combat-equipped, they will only be providing information, advice, and assistance to partner nation forces, and they will not themselves engage LRA forces unless necessary for self-defense."

Members of the LRA have murdered, raped, and kidnapped tens of thousands of people in the region, Obama wrote.

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Poll: One-third of veterans say Iraq, Afghanistan wars weren't worth fighting

Andrew Joseph — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Pew Research Center poll.

An almost equal number -- 34 percent -- said both wars have been worth it. When asked about the wars separately, half of post-9/11 veterans said the Afghanistan war was worth it and 44 percent said so for the Iraq war.

The poll found that 59 percent of post-9/11 veterans supported the military's strategy of nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan and 86 percent of veterans of all eras said they support unmanned drone attacks.

The poll also asked veterans about their lives returning from wars. Forty-four percent of post-9/11 veterans said they had trouble readjusting to civilian life and 37 percent said they thought they suffered from post-traumatic stress, whether diagnosed or not. Only 16 percent of veterans who served before 9/11 said they suffered from PTSD, according to the poll.

The poll included responses from 1,134 veterans who served before Sept. 11, 2001 and 712 who served after the attacks.

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White House gets its first female chief usher

Andrew Joseph — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

There's a new person in charge of making sure the fridge at the White House is stocked with the Obamas' favorite food.

Angella Reid, the general manager of the Ritz Carlton in Arlington, Va., is taking over as chief usher of the White House and director of the president's executive residence, becoming the first woman to hold the position. She starts in November, the White House announced on Tuesday.

The former chief usher, Rear Adm. Stephen Rochon, left the position earlier this year for a job with the Department of Homeland Security.

Reid, who will be the ninth person to be chief usher, will be charged with managing the residence, overseeing an annual inventory of White House property, and working with other offices to put on events like state dinners. Some have spent decades in the role; the first chief usher started in 1901, according to the White House.

In an interview with C-Span, former Chief Usher Gary Walters, who served from 1986 to 2007, describes the chaos of moving out one first family while moving in the incoming one on Inauguration Day. He said his staff had four to six hours to complete the turnaround, and said that the idea of overseeing another Inauguration Day was "probably the thing that caused me to retire more than anything else."

"The next day the president's the president of the United States and he's got enough on his mind, and there's enough demands for the first lady, so it's our objective to, in a short period of time, convert the house over and make the house a home, which is not always easy," Walters said.

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Postal workers' ad campaign blames USPS woes on Congress

Andrew Joseph — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0400

ad campaign meant to inform people about what it says are the real reasons the U.S. Postal Service is in such dire straits.

The ads, which will run for two months on CNN, MSNBC and Fox, pin the blame on a law Congress passed in 2006 that the union contends burdened the Postal Service with billions in costs other agencies and businesses don't have to pay.

"The USPS's difficulties have gotten the attention of legislators and the news media," APWU president Cliff Guffey said in a statement sent to National Journal's Influence Alley . "But, unfortunately, the cause of the problem is frequently misunderstood. It is crucial we tell the real story."

The ad closes by saying: "Congress created this problem and Congress can fix it."

The campaign is meant to build support for a bill by Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch, which addresses the USPS crisis without cutting pay, benefits or collective bargaining rights. House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa has blocked consideration of Lynch's bill in favor of his own legislation, which the postal workers' union says "would be devastating for the Postal Service, the American people and postal employees."

The National Association of Letter Carriers and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union are helping finance the ad campaign. Postal workers are also set to hold demonstrations across the country on Sept. 27 to avoid post office closures and worker layoffs.

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