The Future Of CRS Panel Discussion Set For 4-11

CRS director Dan Mulhollan’s retirement on April 2 – after running Congress’ think tank for 17 years – raises questions about the agency’s policies and future.

Is CRS meeting the needs of Congress? Has its analytical expertise eroded? Are CRS Reports as relevant, accurate, and understandable as they need to be, and should they be available to the general public? What does a 21st century research service look like?

The Advisory Committee will be hosting a panel of experts to discuss these issues on April 11th at 2pm in Rayburn House Office Building room 2203.

Our panel includes:

  • Steve Aftergood, Senior Research Analyst, the Federation of American Scientists and Director, FAS Project on Government Secrecy
  • Stan Brand, Founder, the Brand Law Group; General Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives (1976-1983)
  • Robyn Russell, Legislative Assistant, Congressman Mike Quigley (D – Ill.)
  • Nye Stevens, Deputy Director, Government and Finance Division, Congressional Research Service (2000-2006); Director, Federal Management and Workforce Issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office (1982-2000); Director, Organization and Special Projects Division, U.S. Office of Management and Budget (1977-1982)
  • Moderator Daniel Schuman, Policy Counsel and Director of the Advisory Committee on Transparency, the Sunlight Foundation; Attorney, American Law Division, Congressional Research Service (2006-2007)

All are welcome. RSVP to http://snlg.ht/CRSrsvp. Background information on CRS is available here.

The Day In Sunlight 4/4/2011

Here is a look at what happened recently on the Sunlight network.

  • Paul Blumenthal began the day with several transparency related headlines including news that a Tea Party group has defended the freedom of a giant Indonesian paper company to sell to Americans without paying tariffs, and more. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Daniel Schuman announced that, according to Federal News Radio, the Office of Management and Budget is preparing for Data.gov, USASpending.gov, and other Obama tech innovations to go dark in May due to budget cuts. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Paul Blumenthal began the day with several transparency related headlines including news that the OMB is preparing to shutdown Data.gov, USASpending, gov, and other Obama tech initiatives, reports of Obama’s transparency progress since his inauguration, and more. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Daniel Schuman looked at the momentum behind the campaign to save $34 million that funds Obama-era tech innovations from the budget ax. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Paul Blumenthal reported that the House of Representatives violated a pledge made by Speaker John Boehner to provide a 72 hour window for all legislation to be viewed by the public before it is brought to the floor for debate in voting on the Government Shutdown Prevention Act. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Jeremy Carbaugh announced that Sunlight is moving into the 21st century with its new partnership with cloud hosting provider Angelfire – oh, and also, Happy April Fool’s Day. (Sunlight Labs Blog)
  • Tom Lee reported on the many reasons cutting the e-Government fund would be disastrous. (Sunlight Labs Blog)
  • Take a look at the previous day’s transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency related events. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)

The Day In Sunlight 3/31/2011

Here is a look at what happened yesterday on the Sunlight network.

  • Paul Blumenthal began the day with several transparency related headlines including news that the former lobbyists turned U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell sided with her former boss regarding copyright settlements, reports that House Natural Resources Committee chairman and his staff want to keep the details of three offshore drilling measures off-limits, and more. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Paul Blumenthal looked at a possible topic of President Obama’s speech on energy policy, a start-up company with plans to develop an all-electric sedan. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Paul Blumenthal reported that tech companies are leading a lobbying push for a tax holiday. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Jeremy Carbaugh celebrated Document Freedom Day by noting the ways that documents can be released to the public in a way that everyone can access. (Sunlight Labs Blog)
  • Lindsay Young reported that despite the earmark moratorium, Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) and his staff met with executives from a cyber security company that requested an earmark to explain their appropriations process. (Sunlight Reporting Blog)
  • Take a look at the previous day’s transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency related events. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)

The Day In Sunlight 3/30/2011

Here is a look at what happened yesterday on the Sunlight network.

  • Paul Blumenthal began the day with several transparency related headlines including news that the Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments in McComish v. Bennett, a case that will decide the fate of Arizona’s “clean election” laws, the lobbyists behind Apple, and more. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Ellen Miller looked at California’s transparency history, noting the city of Bell as an example of the scandals the state faces. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Lindsay Young looked at the relationship between the surge in federal lobbyist registrations and the labor issues in the mid-west. (Sunlight Reporting Group)
  • Ryan Sibley looked at how lobbyists are creating Super PACs, highlighting the Freedom Path Action Network, a Super PAC created by registered lobbyist and former Chief of Staff to Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.). (Sunlight Reporting Group)
  • Take a look at the previous day’s transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency related events. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)

The Day In Sunlight 3/29/2011

Here is a look at what happened yesterday on the Sunlight network.

  • Paul Blumenthal began the day with several transparency related headlines including news that Facebook is in talks to hire former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, details of the lobbying history behind the patent-overhaul bill, the America Invents Act, and more. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Daniel Schuman announced the open letter to Congress supporting protection for transparency programs like USASpending.gov and Data.gov in budget negotiations. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Joshua Hatch compared national corporate tax rates across the country, inspired by the news that GE has avoided having to pay any corporate income tax in the United States. (Sunlight Reporting Group)
  • Take a look at the previous day’s transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency related events. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)

The Day In Sunlight 3/28/2011

Here is a look at what happened recently on the Sunlight network.

  • Paul Blumenthal began the day with several transparency related headlines including reports that former Senator-turned-lobbyist Pete Domenici is fighting for the future of the nuclear energy industry after the disaster in Japan, details of the indictment of former senior aide to Senator John Ensign for violating a one-year lobbying ban, and more. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Paul Blumenthal looked a nuclear energy lobbying data from 2004 to 2010. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Jeremy Carbaugh detailed CloudMailin.com and the accompanying Django app created by Sunlight Labs that uses a special email address to compose an HTML blog post via email. (Sunlight Labs Blog)
  • Keenan Steiner looked at the 500+ fundraisers planned for March, noting that March 31st marks the end of first quarter fundraising. (Party Time Blog)
  • Take a look at the previous day’s transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency related events. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)

The Day In Sunlight 3/25/2011

Here is a look at what happened yesterday on the Sunlight network.

  • Paul Blumenthal began the day with several transparency related headlines including how the Treasury and GOP are rebuffing lobbying by the technology sector for a temporary tax break on repatriating profits held offshore and a crackdown on foreign corruption cases by the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Paul Blumenthal highlighted Sunlight’s report on continued health care reform lobbying. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Paul Blumenthal reported on the lack of an earmark moratorium. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Scott Stadium highlighted Storify as his Tool for Transparency. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Kaitlin Lee highlighted OMB Watch’s six principles of federal spending transparency, in response to the oversight hearing on USASpending.gov and the Open Government Directive. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Zubedah Nanfuka included another roundup of state transparency bloggers, highlighting the National Institute on Money in State Politics, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Florida, Kentucky, and Tennessee. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Paul Blumenthal reported that a former aide to Sen. John Ensign was indicted on a lobbying ban violation. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Anupama Narayanswamy included an update on how to read the House disbursements data. (Sunlight Reporting Group)
  • Take a look at the previous day’s transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency related events. (Transparency Caucus Blog)

The Day In Sunlight 3/24/2011

Here is a look at what happened yesterday on the Sunlight network.

  • Paul Blumenthal began the day with several transparency related headlines including reports of fundraising by public unions for Democrats in the wake of labor disputes in the states, news of a Supreme court order that forces transparency from the Federal Reserve, and more. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Daniel Schuman noted that in the FY 2011 budget bill data transparency initiatives like Data.gov and USASpending.gov will be slashed from the federal budget. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Paul Blumenthal looked at how nuclear energy lobbyists are battling the fallout from the Japanese nuclear crisis at Fukushima Daiichi. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Nancy Watzman noted how the new Federal Insurance Office, under the Dodd-Frank financial law, has the broad authority to collect data from the $934 billion industry. (Sunlight Reporting Group)
  • Sarah Dorsey erported how, one year after its passage, health care reform continues to generate lobbying and legal fees. (Sunlight Reporting Group)
  • Take a look at the previous day’s transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency related events. (Transparency Caucus Blog)

The Day In Sunlight 3/23/2011

Here is a look at what happened yesterday on the Sunlight network.

  • Paul Blumenthal began the day with several transparency related headlines including how much AT&T will have to spend to lobby Congress and regulators to clear its proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile, more news on Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and her back property taxes on her private plane, and more. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Nicko Margolies looked at U.S. PIRG’s state spending transparency scorecard and the accompanying scorecard map. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Melanie Buck praised San Francisco for taking impressive steps toward online lobbying disclosure, including monthly detailed activity reports with details of lobbyist’s contacts with public officials, meetings, emails, phone calls, and personal political contributions. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Paul Blumenthal reported that the Kingdom of Bahrain has hired former Wall Street Journal reporter Chris Cooper to do PR work. (Sunlight Foundation Blog)
  • Joshua Hatch analyzed Congressional office spending by district, noting the top spenders across the country. (Sunlight Reporting Group)
  • Keenan Steiner looked at how Democrats are raising funds from labor unions during disputes in the states. (Party Time Blog)
  • Take a look at the previous day’s transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency related events. (Transparency Caucus Blog)

The Day In Transparency 3/23/2011

Here is Wednesday’s look at transparency-related news items, congressional committee hearings, transparency-related bills introduced in Congress, and transparency-related events.

News Roundup:

  • In 2008, Republican-led lobby shop Navigators merged with Democratic-leaning Roberti Associates to become the bipartisan Navigators Global. Now the firm has returned to its Republican-only composition. The Hill
  • Former Governor of Louisiana Buddy Roemer said that his pledge to only accept donations from individuals in amounts of $100 or less means that “when I am elected president, I will be free to lead.” Tech President
  • On behalf of telecommunications consumers, the Media Access Project is advocating for the Federal Communications Commission to increase the required disclosure of political ads. Washington Post
  • While AT&T has a strong presence on the Hill, a number of advocacy groups and industry figures are preparing to actively oppose the proposed merger. The Hill
  • Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) has launched an investigation into a report released by the Office of Special Counsel alleging that officials in the Bush Administration violated the Hatch Act. Government Executive
  • The Supreme Court declined to review a lower court decision that is allowing the Federal Reserve to disclose details regarding which financial institutions borrowed from the federal emergency funds during the 2008 credit crisis. Politico
  • Citizens for Responsibility and ethics is suing the Department of Justice for refusing to comply with FOIA requests for records regarding the federal investigation of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas. Center for Public Integrity
  • Crossroads GPS launched Wikicountability, a way to hold the government publicly accountable for it’s degree of compliance with FOIA requests through crowdsourcing. Politico
  • Missouri Republicans are amending their complaint against Sen. McCaskill (D-MO) regarding her failure to pay taxes on a private plane used for official Senate travel. The amended complaint will ask the Senate Ethics Committee to review the Senator’s political use of the plane. Roll Call $/Politico
  • Former Jack Abramoff colleague Kevin Ring is facing a third trial related to his involvement in a public corruption scandal. Roll Call $
  • A new grant will allow Hawaii to institute a new Office of Information Management and Technology and hire the state’s first Chief Information Officer. Government Technology

Relevant committee hearings scheduled for 3/23:

  • None. House and Senate not in session.

Relevant bills introduced:

  • None. House and Senate not in session.

Transparency events scheduled for 3/23: