Government Oversight

Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are proposing that disciplinary hearings against auditors held by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) be made public, so companies and investors know when and for what reasons auditors are being scrutinized by the PCAOB.

"The PCAOB's secret proceedings are not only shielded from the public but from Congress as well," Reed said last week. "The public and Congress have a role in ensuring that not just auditors are held to account but also that the PCAOB is held to account as well for its oversight of the auditors and audit firms."

After the House failed to pass a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution, a Republican last week proposed another way to reduce government spending — not by amending the Constitution, but by printing less of it.

Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.) proposed a resolution on Friday that would call for printing up to 235,500 copies of the pocket-sized Constitution that most members carry with them, or however many $114,849 can buy, whichever is less. The resolution, H.Con.Res. 90, would authorize the 25th edition of the pocket Constitution.

Rep. Betty Sutton's office said "super-PACs" have concentrated power "in the hands of the political elite."

Rep. Jackson Lee said her bill would immediately suspend all federal funding for institutions that have covered up sexual abuse.

Business groups have criticized the labor board rule, which calls for quick union elections.

Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) on Tuesday afternoon criticized the Obama administration for suing South Carolina over its immigration law that requires local law enforcement to coordinate with federal officials when they suspect someone of being in the U.S. illegally.

Speaking on the House floor, Poe said the administration is once again showing that it will look to sue states that try to get a handle on the growing illegal immigration problem that the federal government is failing to resolve.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, introduced a bill on Monday that would establish background checks for Washington, D.C., employees similar to the one now used at the federal level.

Issa said this change is needed to help control what he said are "outrageous abuses" in the local D.C. government.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) took to the floor Thursday to speak out against an amendment Republicans said was designed to bolster accountability in Justice Department programs but which the Vermont senator said would hamstring efforts to fight crime and aid victims.

Leahy said the amendment would impose burdensome reporting requirements on local law enforcement agencies and would send a message from the Senate that the government was leaving victims of crime to their own resources.

Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) and 17 other House Republicans introduced legislation on Friday that would give states the option to set their own education standards and opt out of the federal requirements and funding from the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law.

"I do not believe it is in the best interest of our students or our country for the federal government to be dictating a one size fits all, top down approach to education," Garrett said. "In order for our students to compete in the 21st century, we need to cut the ties of federal mandates that go along with federal money."

A small group of senators late last week introduced legislation aimed at reducing more than $100 billion in "improper government payments," such as Social Security payments made out to the deceased.

The Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act, introduced by Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), seeks to strengthen last year's Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act. "This bill brings the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act to the next level and makes it stronger, more robust and more effective at preventing and recovering improper payments," Carper said.