Press Releases

“It appears that NRDC’s unprecedented access to high-level EPA officials allowed it to influence EPA policy decisions and achieve its own private agenda. Such collusive activities provide the NRDC, and their financial backers, with an inappropriate opportunity to wield the broad powers of the executive branch,” the Members wrote. “The fact that an ideological and partisan group drafted a rule that places a tremendous cost on everyday Americans through increased electricity prices is ...

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., requested yesterday that Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Thomas Perez provide documents and information related to wasteful spending and mismanagement at the Department of Labor. Information obtained by the Committee has raised questions ...

“This new information about additional conflicts of interest within the Justice Department shows that almost every facet of the Department with an interest in the IRS targeting investigation is compromised,” the Chairmen wrote in the letter. “From the Civil Rights Division to the Public Integrity Section and the FBI, from the Tax Division to the Office of Legislative Affairs, the Justice Department has serious and wide-ranging conflicts of interest in its handling of the IRS targeting ...

“On July 28, 2014, our staffs met at the White House to discuss a way forward. My staff made a number of proposals that would allow the Committee to get the information we need. For instance, to accommodate the White House’s stated concerns about having Mr. Simas testify publicly, my staff proposed that the Committee question Mr. Simas in a deposition setting. I also made that request in a letter dated July 24, 2014. To accommodate the White House’s stated concerns about producing ...

“As a result of New York State’s long history of Medicaid mismanagement that inappropriately pass costs to federal taxpayers, we urge you to fully investigate the excessive Medicaid payments received by the two New York City hospitals identified by [the Government Accountability Office] and determine how long these hospitals have received inflated payment rates,” the congressmen write in the letter. “Additionally, CMS should recover additional overpayments owed federal taxpayers. At the ...

“Today a Federal judge ordered that the Department of Justice must submit by October 1 a privilege log of withheld documents related to Operation Fast and Furious. I am grateful and pleased by that. This Administration has been so intent on hiding the contents of these documents that it allowed Attorney General Holder to be held in contempt instead of just turning them over to Congress. The privilege log will bring us closer to finding out why the Justice Department hid behind false ...

“The Post’s report comes at a time when examiners are apparently falling behind on one of the core functions of the agency,” wrote Chairman Issa. “The USPTO reportedly has a backlog of patent applications of over 600,000 and an approximate wait time of more than five years. Despite patent examiners generally receiving salary at the top of the federal pay scale – some making $148,000 a year – it appears the telework program is not serving its intended purpose to produce more ...

“The Postal Service’s latest reported loss illustrates the urgent need for postal reform to prevent a taxpayer funded bailout of the Postal Service,” said Chairman Issa. “Unfortunately, some in Congress still have not come around to the need to allow the struggling institution to right size itself. In fact, just last week, 22 Senators asked for a renewed moratorium on mail processing facility consolidations, consolidations that would enable the Postal Service to save hundreds of ...

“The independent study released today demonstrates that the Obama Administration failed to provide thorough, transparent cost-benefit analyses for major environmental rules that cost American jobs,” said Chairman Issa. “Rather than using a fair and open rulemaking process, EPA pushed through regulations using sloppy analysis without sufficiently informing Congress or the public of the economic impact.”

Today, the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Senate and House committees on government oversight sent a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan in light of serious concerns that certain Offices of Inspectors General are experiencing problems obtaining documents from their respective agencies. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Ranking Member Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) together with House Oversight and Government ...