Hearings

TAKEAWAYS: • The Army’s decision to transition the administration of its childcare program from a contractor to the General Service Administration (GSA) increased the net costs by over 50 percent, which equates to more ...

PURPOSE: To examine the various regulatory burdens placed on the grazing industry by the federal government.  BACKGROUND: The Committee will hear from a panel of witnesses representing a variety of concerns with the federal government’s regulatory approach such as ...

PURPOSE: To examine the Department of the Treasury’s and the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) efforts to implement the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act).   BACKGROUND: Enacted on May 9, 2014, the DATA Act modernizes federal spending data by requiring agencies to report detailed, program level financial data in a data standard. Within a year of enactment, the Administration ...

TAKEAWAYS: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to be plagued by persistent employee misconduct. John Beale, former head of the EPA office of Homeland Security, masqueraded as a covert CIA officer and is now in prison for time and attendance fraud while employed at the EPA. Peter Jutro retired in disgrace after he was found to have sexually assaulted ...

PURPOSE:  To better understand the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, and review the economic impact of the Movement on American and Israeli businesses.  To review how the goals of BDS may or may not be affected by International Trade Law, U.S. federal law, and state law. 

PURPOSE: To examine current National Parks Service (NPS) concessions policies. To look at potential solutions for increasing revenue and attendance at national ...

PURPOSE: To continue oversight of Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) Metrorail system. To examine the role of the Office of Inspector General. To review the current and future financial situation of WMATA.   BACKGROUND: WMATA was created in 1967 by an interstate compact between Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, with congressional consent, to provide for a ...

HEARING PURPOSE: To explore the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) role in the recent U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data breach. To review the DOI Inspector General’s (IG) recent investigative reports.  HEARING BACKGROUND:

TAKEAWAYS: Criminal justice reform is a bipartisan/bicameral effort. The federal prison population is growing at an unsustainable rate and is nearly 40 percent over capacity. Populations have grown from 24,000 federal prisoners in 1980, to 219, 000 in 2013. The Bureau of Prisons budget has grown right along with the prison population. It takes up 25 percent of the Department of Justice’s budget and is expected to swell to ...