Committee On

Oversight & Government Reform

Reports


November 1, 2012
“None of the Below: The Truth About President Obama’s Actions Against Domestic Energy Production”

Chairman Darrell Issa released a staff report entitled “None of the Below: The Truth About President Obama’s Actions Against Domestic Energy Production,” summarizing the steps President Obama’s political appointees at the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior have taken to restrict or regulate into nonexistence the production of oil, natural gas, and coal. Continue reading

October 29, 2012
Fast and Furious: The Anatomy of a Failed Operation Part 2 of 3

Chairman Darrell Issa: “The report discloses widespread management failures within the hierarchy of the Justice Department. The Justice Department has yet to evaluate these management issues and implement structural changes to prevent another disaster like Operation Fast and Furious from occurring. Furthermore, the Justice Department has taken limited action against these negligent managers.”

Senator Chuck Grassley: “Officials in the Justice Department saw any number of warnings and some even had the gunwalking information right in front of them, yet nothing was done to stop it. Countless people may be murdered with these weapons, yet the Attorney General appears to be letting his employees slide by with little to no accountability. The Attorney General needs to make changes to ensure that department leadership provides oversight of the agencies they are tasked with supervising, instead of pointing fingers at somebody else.” Continue reading

September 20, 2012
The Federal Government’s Failure to Prevent and End Medicaid Overpayments

Today House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa released a new staff report entitled, “The Federal Government’s Failure to Prevent and End Medicaid Overpayments,” which examines outrageous abuses of federal tax dollars within the Medicaid program, specifically regarding New York State developmental centers. Continue reading

August 10, 2012
A Dismissal of Safety, Choice, and Cost: The Obama Administration’s New Auto Regulations

In the wake of a massive taxpayer-funded bailout and effective government control of General Motors and Chrysler, the Obama Administration took unprecedented action to extract agreement for strict new fuel economy standards from auto manufacturers. This places ideology over science and politics over process. This action has serious consequences for consumers in the choice, cost, and safety of vehicles.
While the Obama Administration has told the public and Congress it followed the statutory rulemaking process in developing these regulations, material produced by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform documents how the Administration under an imperial presidency performed an end-run around the law and ran a White House-based political negotiation, led by “czars” who marginalized federal agencies charged in statute with setting fuel economy standards. Regulatory expertise from Department of Transportation officials, the agency charged with protecting automotive safety, were frequently mocked and belittled. Continue reading

July 31, 2012
Fast and Furious: The Anatomy of a Failed Operation (Part 1 of 3)

This report is the first of three completing the investigative work of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. This report chronicles the fundamentally flawed firearms trafficking case from the perspective of the United States Attorney’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Part two will look at the devastating failure of supervision and leadership by officials at Justice Department headquarters, principally within the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, and within the Criminal Division. Part three will address the unprecedented obstruction of the investigation by the highest levels of the Justice Department, including the Attorney General himself. Part two will be released shortly, and part three can only be prepared after the Justice Department fulfills its obligations to cooperate with the Congress and produce documents. Soon, the U.S. House of Representatives will commence legal proceedings to enforce its prerogatives following the June 27, 2012, vote holding Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. in criminal and civil contempt. Continue reading

July 19, 2012
Continuing Oversight of Regulatory Impediments to Job Creation: Job Creators Still Buried by Red Tape

Chairman Issa released a new report documenting the strangling effect of red tape on job creation. In this report, job creators across the country describe problems with these regulations that prevent them from adding new jobs into our economy. Continue reading

July 5, 2012
How Countrywide Used Its VIP Loan Program to Influence Washington Policymakers

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa today released a new report following the Committee’s three year investigation into Countrywide Financial’s “Friends of Angelo” and “VIP Program” that issued discounted mortgages to influential Washington policy figures. The report finds that Countrywide used its VIP Program to aid its lobbying efforts as well as to strengthen its relationship with taxpayer backed Fannie Mae. Countrywide partnered with Fannie Mae in a strategic business alliance that also included joint lobbying efforts. Continue reading

June 20, 2012
House Oversight Committee Recommendation to Hold Attorney General Eric Holder in Contempt of Congress

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is recommending that the House of Representatives hold Attorney General Eric Holder in Contempt of Congress. Holder and the Department of Justice have failed to comply with congressional subpoenas concerning Justice Department documents about the Fast and Furious gunwalking operation, which allowed around 2,000 firearms to fall into the hands of drug cartels in Mexico and led to the death of a U.S. Border Patrol Agent. The Committee on Oversight and Goverment Reform is working to hold Top Justice Officials accountable for their actions in the Fast and Furious Operation. Continue reading

June 15, 2012
FDA’s Contribution to the Drug Shortage Crisis

American patients and doctors currently confront an unprecedented shortage of critical drugs. The drugs in shortage are mostly generic injectable medications, many of which have been on the market for decades. Information obtained by the Committee shows that the crisis was largely sparked by actions of the Food and Drug Administration. Continue reading

May 9, 2012
Airport Insecurity: TSA’s Failure to Cost-Effectively Procure, Deploy and Warehouse Its Screening Technologies

During the past ten years, TSA has struggled to cost-effectively utilize taxpayer funding to procure and deploy security equipment at the Nation’s 463 airports where TSA provides screening operations. Continue reading