On February 6, 2017, increased privacy for emails took a step forward with the House passage of H.R. 387, the Email Privacy Act. This legislation provides a much-needed update to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), and extends the legal requirements of warrants to email communications stored by cloud services providers. ECPA was enacted in […]
Trump to Resistant Bureaucrats: You’re Fired
Disturbing news was reported in the January 31, 2017 Washington Post about a growing resistance from federal workers in implementing President Trump’s policies. According to the Post, “[l]ess than two weeks into the Trump’s administration, federal workers are in regular consultation with recently departed Obama-era political appointees about what they can do to push back […]
115th Congress: A New Sheriff (with a Powerful Posse) Has Arrived
For the first time since Democrats turned the Speaker’s gavel over to the Republicans in January 2011, the Pennsylvania Avenue axis of power (the White House at one end of the famous street, and both chambers of Congress at the other) will be under the control of a single party. And for the first time since the 2004 elections, that party will be the Republicans’ “Grand Old Party,” not the Democrats. Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential race completed the trifecta that began in 2010, when Republicans won control of the House of Representatives, followed by the 2014 elections that returned control of the Senate to the GOP.
Can President Trump Finally End the VA Scandal?
As the nation prepares for the transfer of power from the Obama administration to the Trump administration, the issue of veteran healthcare and the insidious and continuing wait-times scandal remains a critical area of concern.
Modernizing Federal Information Technology
President Trump has made it clear that he wants to make significant changes in how government programs are managed. One of the best sources of the worst examples of wasteful spending for the president and his team is the Government Accountability Office (GAO) High Risk List, which every two years identifies agencies and program areas that are vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. In GAO’s 2015 report, improving the management of information technology (IT) acquisitions and operations made the high risk list for the very first time. According to the report, “federal IT investments too frequently fail or incur cost overruns and schedule slippages while contributing little to mission-related outcomes.”
Mulvaney Faces Uphill Battle on Defense Spending
Incoming Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) will be tasked with developing plans to cut trillions of dollars in spending, based on the ideas being floated by the Trump transition team. While there are always challenges to implement such proposals, mostly from members of Congress, any suggestions to cut defense spending will face a particularly tough fight. However, Director Mulvaney should be a good fit for this effort. During his tenure in the House of Representatives, he established a track record of pushing to reduce both domestic and defense spending.
Making Healthcare Great
The repeal and replacement of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, has begun. On January 3, 2017, the day the 115th Congress was sworn in, Senate Budget Chairman Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) introduced S. Con. Res 3, a budget resolution for fiscal year 2017. This was not an ordinary budget bill, since its only purpose was to serve as a framework to repeal Obamacare. The most important part of the resolution is reconciliation instructions for the Senate Finance and Health, Education, Labor, and Pension (HELP) Committees, and the House Ways and Means (W&M) and Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committees to write repeal legislation.
How to Make the Budget Great Again
With the beginning of a new administration, the best and brightest in leadership are often selected to advise the President. House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, M.D. (R-Ga.), who has been nominated as the secretary of Health and Human Services, fits that description. He will not only be an excellent secretary; he has been an exceptional chairman of the committee. In December, 2016, Chairman Price proposed a series of changes to the budget process. His reforms, which will help return the budget process to regular order, include:
CAGW Statement on Designation of Commissioner Ajit Pai as FCC Chair
On January 23, 2017, it was announced that President Trump has designated Ajit Pai as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The following statement can be attributed to CAGW President Tom Schatz upon learning of this designation: Citizens Against Government Waste has had a productive working relationship with Commissioner Pai, and look forward to […]
HHS Secretary Tom Price: Just What the Doctor Ordered
The left is doing their best in trying to disrupt and stop Dr. Tom Price’s nomination to be Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). They are throwing every smear and outrageous accusation they can up against the wall, hoping something sticks. Why? Because Dr. Price has been a strong voice in opposing Obamacare (The Patient Protection […]