This means war
April 27th, 2011 | Executive Office of the President White House | Posted by Sarah Chacko
Buildup over a draft executive order that would require contractors to disclose their political contributions has led one voice for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to mimic the President’s charge in Libya.
“We will fight it through all available means,” the Chamber of Commerce’s top lobbyist R. Bruce Josten told the New York Times Tuesday. In a reference to the White House’s battle to depose Libya’s leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, he said, “To quote what they say every day on Libya, all options are on the table.”
The proposal, leaked last week by a former Federal Election Commission official, would require companies bidding for government work to disclose in their proposals all political contributions made by the company, its Political Action Committee and its senior executives over the prior two years.
Companies would also have to include contributions made to third-party organizations that could use those donations for political advertising.
The order says it seeks to “increase transparency and accountability” by addressing the perception that political campaign spending provides special access to or favoritism in the contracting process.
So what exactly are those options that the Chamber and other critics could use?
Meredith McGehee, policy director at the Campaign Legal Center, said there are two pressure points — the courts or Congress.
Several Republican leaders seem ready to draft a bill overturning the order (if it’s ever issued). Twenty five Republican senators signed off on a letter that raised concerns about politicizing the contracting process and silencing political activity among contracting corporations.
And if this battle was waged at the Supreme Court level, it would be interesting to see if judges maintain their support of campaign finance disclosure or if this particular type of disclosure would fall under other areas that they have deemed protected.
Some of the questions being raised have very little to do with the details of disclosure rules but on the President’s intent. Opponents ask if he seriously considers pay-to-play as large a problem in Washington as we’ve seen in states or does he want to know who is financing his political opponents?
If he’s seeking transparency, President Obama would have to show how this disclosure won’t give Democratic supporters extra pull with awards. It probably wouldn’t hurt to also call out some of the serious contracting favoritism that his order would fix.
Just as last year’s Citizens United Supreme Court case, which protected corporate donations to political organizations, drove millions of dollars into the 2010 elections, this order may set off a different kind of firestorm, said Bradley Smith, chairman of the Center for Competitive Politics and a former Federal Election Commission chairman. Obama’s effort could backfire, he said, and instead of silencing his opponents, he may incite them to fight back with their wallets.
Tags: campaign contribution, contractor, disclosure, President Obama, transparency
Shutdown plans now available
April 19th, 2011 | 2011 Budget Executive Office of the President OMB | Posted by Sean Reilly
Remember the contingency plans that agencies have to prepare for the event of a government shutdown?
Those documents have never been more accessible–now that the immediate threat of a halt to agency operations has passed.
Under a “What’s New” section of its web site dated April 14, the Office of Management and Budget has posted links to more than 50 agency plans. Had the government closed, for example, more than three-quarters of employees in the Executive Office of the President would have been furloughed. At least for now, the prospect of a shutdown has receded since Congress last week approved a government-wide budget for the rest of fiscal 2011.
The new-found availability of the shutdown plans is a shift from only a few weeks ago, when the Obama administration rebuffed pleas from federal employee unions to release them. Late last month, the American Federation of Government Employees sued for access under the Freedom of Information Act.
But while the OMB site suggests that the administration began posting links to the records in one place only last Thursday, budget office spokeswoman Moira Mack said the site actually went up April 8. On Monday, April 4, agencies began “reaching out” to federal managers to discuss plans for an orderly shutdown, Mack said in an email, and began fielding employee questions later in the week.
And even if many agency shutdown plans are now only a mouse click away, AFGE will pursue its lawsuit, a spokesman said, to set some “parameters’ for how to handle the information in the future.
Tags: American Federation of Government Employees, Office of Management and Budget
Fed rights at risk in WikiLeaks backlash, groups say
January 28th, 2011 | Executive Office of the President Intelligence OMB Uncategorized | Posted by Sean Reilly
Just as agencies are wrapping up security reviews launched after the latest WikiLeaks breach, a coalition of open government groups is warning of possible consequences for federal employee rights.
Although improving safeguards for classified information is laudable, “we urge you not to craft policies that encourage agencies to unduly restrict free speech, or otherwise distract agencies from actually improving information security,” representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union and eight other organizations wrote Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew in a letter dated Friday.
Ordered by Lew early this month and due to be finished Jan. 28, the “initial assessments” are supposed to address more than 100 different points, according to a memo posted on OMB’s web site. While no one’s quarreling with the overall purpose, the ACLU and other letter signers say they are particularly concerned about a suggestion that agencies monitor employees’ “pre- and post-employment activities” or their participation in on-line sites like WikiLeaks or Open Leaks.
“It’s not at all clear how agencies could accomplish this, and, more importantly, such monitoring sweeps so broadly as to threaten constitutional rights,” the letter says.
Federal Times reached out Friday to an OMB spokesperson for a response to the letter. Radio silence so far, but we’ll add anything that comes in.
For the record, the assessments are being overseen by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Archives’ Information Security Oversight Office.
The intelligence folks aren’t commenting, but Jay Bosanko, director of the oversight office, said recently that all of the requirements listed in the memo don’t apply to all agencies. The open government coalition, however, would like to see that spelled out for the record, said Amy Bennett of OpenTheGovernment.org, which also signed the letter.
“A lot of these requirements aren’t standards-based and they aren’t rules-based,” she said.
Tags: American Civil Liberties Union, Jack Lew, Office of Management and Budget, OpenTheGovernment.org, Wikileaks
Executive order creates new CUI system
November 4th, 2010 | Executive Office of the President Uncategorized | Posted by Sean Reilly
Open government groups are hailing a new executive order requiring federal agencies to review and justify markings used to designate numerous types of “controlled unclassified information. “
Under the reviews, agency officials must define each “category and subcategory” of CUI and link it to a specific law, regulation or government-wide policy. The National Archives’ Information Security Oversight Office will have to sign off on the results.
The order–published Tuesday, Nov. 9 in the Federal Register–labels the current system of markings—such as “For Official Use Only”—an “inefficient, confusing patchwork” that “has resulted in inconsistent marking and safeguarding of documents, led to unclear or unnecessarily restrictive dissemination policies and created impediments to authorized information-sharing.”
“The fact that these agency-specific policies are often hidden from public view has only aggravated these issues,” the order says. A presidential task force had recommended a consolidated CUI system last year.
In news releases, several open government groups praised another provision that makes clear that CUI markings will have no bearing on whether records are releasable under the Freedom of Information Act.
The order “is a victory for openness, for both our community and the administration,” said Patrice McDermott, director of the OpenTheGovernment.org coalition.
“We are very pleased that the Obama administration took the opportunity to reform a confusing and inconsistent system that unnecessarily prevented information from being shared with the public and within the government,” Mike German, policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a separate release.
At OMB Watch, Executive Director Gary Bass said the order “creates a fair and public process,” but added: “As always, implementation will determine if this policy succeeds or fails.”
Tags: American Civil Liberties Union, controlled unclassified information, Gary Bass, Mike German, National Archives' Information Security Oversight Office, OMB Watch, OpenTheGovernment.org, Patrice McDermott
OMG! Prez bans txting while drving
October 1st, 2009 | Executive Office of the President Federal Travel White House | Posted by Tim Kauffman
Feds, put down those BlackBerries. At least while you’re behind the wheel.
President Barack Obama issued an executive order today that bans federal employees from using their cell phones, BlackBerries or other electronic devices to send or receive text messages, read e-mails or perform other electronic tasks while driving .
The order applies to employees behind the wheel of government owned or leased vehicles or those driving their own vehicles while on government business. Agencies also were instructed to encourage federal contractors to enforce similar polices on their own workforces.
Obama issued the order to coincide with a Washington summit organized by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on the dangers of text messaging and other distractions while driving.
The number of crashes attributed to distracted drivers nationally has risen during the past five years, even though the number of crashes overall has dropped, and accounted for 16 percent of crashes and fatalities in 2008, Transportation statistics show.
Tags: driving, executive order
10,000 + ways to SAVE
October 1st, 2009 | Executive Office of the President OMB White House | Posted by Steve Watkins
Federal employees have submitted more than 10,000 money-saving tips to the Office of Management and Budget’s SAVE Award contest in the last week, OMB director Peter Orszag announced today.
OMB launched the SAVE Award contest on Sept. 23 to gather cost-cutting and performance-improving ideas from the people who know government best: the employees.
So far, you have responded with 10,266 entries. And that number is growing as we speak.
If you haven’t submitted an idea yet, don’t delay. The contest ends on Oct. 14. You can enter at www.SaveAward.gov.
Once submissions close, an OMB panel will review the ideas and select a handful of finalists for President Barack Obama to choose from. The winning idea, which will be announced in November, will be included in the 2011 budget. The idea’s author will also get to meet Obama, the man with whom the buck stops.
Photo: Wikipedia.
Tags: Peter Orszag, SAVE Award
OMB director to staff: Step to it.
October 1st, 2009 | Executive Office of the President HR Management OMB Workplace | Posted by Steve Watkins
As a runner and general fitness nut, I was pleasantly surprised to find a press release in my inbox from the Office of Management and Budget this morning announcing a new mandate for OMB staff: wear a pedometer.
OMB Director Peter Orszag launched the “OMB Pedometer Challenge” today to improve employee health by having everyone wear a pedometer to track their physical activity throughout the day.
Employees will enter their daily steps on an internal Web site and compare their activity levels to Orszag’s activity levels and their division’s levels. They’ll also be able to enter health statistics like body mass index, blood pressure and heart rate to help track improvements in their health.
The employee with the highest activity level each month wins lunch with Orszag and the highest performing team wins a “health happy hour.” Free lunch and/or a free happy hour? That’s inspiration enough for me.
Orszag said:
This challenge will make all of us more aware of our current activity levels and help inspire us to increase our physical activity. Evidence shows that pedometers are one of the most cost-effective ways to increase physical activity. And in true OMB fashion, we like to walk down the path cleared by the best data.”
The challenge is part of a larger effort to improve the health and productivity of the federal workforce, while reducing health care and disability costs, OMB said in the news release.
New green goals coming
April 22nd, 2009 | Agency Management Executive Office of the President Facilities Fleet Management State | Posted by Tim Kauffman
The White House is developing an executive order that will set new goals for greening federal agencies, the administration’s top environmental policy adviser said this afternoon.
The White House Council on Environmental Quality is working with several agencies to draft the new presidential directive, council chairwoman Nancy Sutley said during an Earth Day event at the State Department. Sutley did not say when the order will be issued.
Existing laws and executive orders already require agencies to cut their energy and water consumption, increase their use of renewable energy, purchase environmentally preferable products and buy alternative fuel vehicles. Sutley said the new order will go even further.
The order will closely integrate federal greening actions and set new goals for energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy, the purchase of fuel-efficient cars, water conservation and encourage overall sustainability.
For those of you who read your Federal Times closely each week, Sutley’s comments should come as no surprise. We reported this week that the administration was reviewing all existing goals to determine which ones should be updated, modified or otherwise revised to meet the Obama administration’s green government commitments.
Tags: conservation, Energy, environment, green
Senate approves five Obama officials
January 23rd, 2009 | Environmental Protection Agency Executive Office of the President HUD Transition Transportation | Posted by Steve Watkins
Barack Obama’s Cabinet is filling up. Last night the Senate confirmed:
- Shaun Donovan to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
- Ray LaHood to be Secretary of Transportation.
In other confirmation news:
- Susan Rice, Obama’s choice for U.N. ambassador, was approved.
- Nancy Sutley was confirmed as chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
- And finally, Lisa Jackson was given the green light to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, after Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., lifted his objection to a vote by unanimous consent.
Tags: confirmations, Lisa Jackson, Nancy Sutley, Ray LaHood, Senate, Shaun Donovan, Susan Rice
First Obama orders: Pay freeze, lobbying restrictions, open government
January 21st, 2009 | Executive Office of the President Pay & Benefits White House | Posted by Tim Kauffman
President Barack Obama greeted his new White House staff this afternoon with a few announcements that he said “represent a clean break from business as usual.”
According to this Associated Press report, President Obama said he’s instituting a pay freeze for the roughly 100 White House employees who make more than $100,000 a year. The move is a direct response to the economic crisis gripping the nation.
In another move, Obama issued new rules that attempt to crack down on lobbyists influencing the administration. The rules restrict political appointees who leave the administration from lobbying former friends and colleagues for at least two years and ban those coming on board from working on matters they previously lobbied on or approaching agencies they once targeted. In addition, no member of the administration will be allowed to accept gifts of any size from lobbyists. And all staff members must attend an ethics briefing.
And in an effort to improve government transparency, Obama said he would be directing agencies to change how they respond to requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act. The new standard will require agencies to err on the side of making information public, rather than using legal arguments to restrict access to requested documents.
In remarks to his Cabinet secretaries and senior staff gathered at the Old Executive Office Building, Obama said his actions were “aimed at establishing firm rules of the road for my administration and all who serve in it” and to help restore faith in government.
The executive orders and directives I’m issuing today will not by themselves make government as honest and transparent as it needs to be. And they do not go as far as we need to go towards restoring accountability and fiscal restraint in Washington. But these historic measures do mark the beginning of a new era of openness in our country. And I will, I hope, do something to make government trustworthy in the eyes of the American people in the days and weeks, months and years to come. That’s a pretty good place to start.
So what do you think? Is the new president sending the right message on how his administration is going to do things differently?
Tags: FOIA, lobbyists, President Barack Obama