Plans are underway for the Inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States on January 20, 2009.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill made the following statement following her vote in favor of the financial rescue plan.  The bill passed the Senate with a bipartisan 74-25 vote this evening.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congress today sent the first piece of legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill to the President to be signed into law.  The bill, which will improve efficiency and accountability within the federal government by strengthening the inspector general system, received unanimous approval in the Senate late Wednesday night and quick passage in the House of Representatives today, leaving only one final step before becoming law: the president’s signature.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following another massive bailout on Wall Street, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill in a speech from the Senate floor called for greater accountability and transparency in the banking and insurance industries through reasonable regulation.  McCaskill pointed to the trend in recent years towards deregulation and lax enforcement of existing laws as culprits in the current state of the American economy.  She asserts that reversing this deregulation trend is the best way to make sure the country does not see a repeat of recent government bailouts.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The White House announced this week that they plan to fight a good-government provision sponsored by U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, but the senator from Missouri indicated today that she would not back down from her efforts to bring new accountability to government contracting.  

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill announced today that negotiators from the Senate and House of Representatives have agreed to include whistleblower protections for employees who report consumer product hazards in the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Reauthorization bill. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill fired off letters to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and the head of the agency which oversees contractors for the Department of Defense regarding a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released today uncovering serious allegations of impropriety by agency auditors.  The GAO found in its study that supervisors at the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) used intimidation, harassment, and threats to get their employees to alter audits in favor of contractors. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill voted in the Senate today to pass legislation that would make key improvements to the Medicare program by helping maintain seniors’ access to doctors, improving services in rural areas, and protecting seniors from aggressive marketing of Medicare Advantage.  The legislation – the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act – passed the Senate with a vote of 69–30.