Making Government Transparent and Accountable
The Sunlight Foundation uses cutting-edge technology and ideas to make government transparent and accountable. Underlying all of our efforts is a fundamental belief that increased transparency will improve the public's confidence in government
The Sunlight Foundation Blog
-
Transparency in Presidential Signing Statements
Over the weekend, Charles Savage at The New York Times had an important article on how President Obama’s use of signing statements – written pronouncements sometimes issued by presidents when they sign bills into law –has begun to mirror his predecessor’s, creating similar criticism and controversy. (The last president was prolific in the use of signing statements.)
Here’s a list along with links to of all of President Obama’s signing statements so far. But I didn’t find this list on WhiteHouse.gov where I thought it would be…And where it should be! If you go the White House you won’t find an explicit listing of the statements. They might be there…they could be in the 97-page list of “Statements and Releases.” And the site’s search function was of no help. Not good. Not good at all.
We found them however at a site maintained by Joyce Green, a private attorney, who maintains a Web site that lists all the presidential signing statements since 2001. Green built the website for two reasons: (1) to provide free, convenient public access to the signing statements; and (2) to provide an objective, nonpartisan, and reliable research tool for reporters, scholars, lawyers, and anyone who is interested in signing statements. Green’s site is mirrored by Pace University Law School, with her permission, and it will eventually take over the materials and Green’s Web site soon disappear.
The practice of signing statements has created lots of controversy, such as when a statement proclaims some part of the legislation is unconstitutional and the administration intends to ignore it. President George W. Bush created controversy by issuing numerous signing statements that declared sections of bills unconstitutional. In July 2006, the American Bar Administration declared that using signing statements to modify the meaning of passed legislation undermined “the rule of law and our constitutional system of separation of powers”.
While running for president, now President Obama was critical of Bush’s use of the statements and called them an “abuse,” promising to show greater restraint. As Savage wrote at The Times, the Obama administration says the signing statements the president has signed so far, challenging portions of five bills, have been based on mainstream interpretations of the Constitution and echo reservations routinely expressed by presidents of both parties.
That may be all well and good, but our concern is less about the constitutional law issues involved, but on the need for transparency in the process. If the president is refusing to enforce legislation passed by Congress then we have a right to know about it. And the administration should make it easy to find on its Web site. This is a problem easily solved.
-
Dept. of Interior Oil Scandal
Yesterday, the Inspector General of the Department of the Interior released multiple reports revealing widespread corruption in the Mineral Management Services agency, which handles mineral extraction, leases, and royalties for the Department of the Interior. The allegations show employees receiving illegal gifts, graft, filing false statements on ethics forms, using illegal drugs, and having sex with both subordinates in the agency and with agents of oil and gas companies with business before the agency.
Here are some of the allegations:
Lucy Denett, former associate director of minerals revenue management: accused of steering a contract to one of her aides after he retired.
Gregory Smith, former director of the royalty-in-kind program: accused of doing outside consulting work that included using his position to help the company paying him gain access to clients doing work with the royalty-in-kind program; billing Mineral Management Services for trips made in conjunction with his outside consulting work; accepting over $1,000 in gifts from oil and gas companies; using cocaine with a subordinate; having sex with two subordinates, where one episode is clearly a sexual assault.
Eight other employees: Socialized with and received gifts from companies with business before the royalty-in-kind program. Two of these employees are also alleged to have used drugs and had sexual relations with various agents of oil and gas companies with business before the program.
Here’s CNN reporting on the report:
The IG reports are available at ProPublica where Paul Kiel is providing running coverage.
Since 2001, when President Bush took office, the Department of the Interior was beset by problems arising from the appointment of officials who previously worked in or with the industries that the Department is intended to oversee.
Both the Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton, and the Deputy Secretary of the Interior, Steven J. Griles, came from the extraction industries. Norton worked for a law firm that lobbied for a variety of companies, including oil, gas, and metal companies. Griles previously worked for a natural resources company and later provided public relations advice to a variety of extraction companies doing business with the government. Both Norton and Griles wound up caught in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. Norton resigned her post as the scandal encroached into the Department of the Interior, while Griles wound up pleading guilty.
Ethical standards trickle from the top on down. Some of the officials involved in this current scandal expressed the opinion that they “didn’t think ethics rules applied to them because of their ‘unique’ role in the agency and that they needed to socialize with industry representatives for ‘market intelligence.’” The Mineral Management Services scandal has been brewing for a long time and highlights a lack of oversight that occurs when a Department is staffed with individuals who are used to making money from the business they are charged with regulating.
