Government Oversight

The Senate on Friday approved a bill reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in a 73-23 vote.

The bill would extend for five years U.S. authorities' ability to surveil terrorists overseas without first getting a court's permission.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) wants to protect emails and text messages the same way phone conversations are via an amendment to a bill reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Paul introduced an amendment, The Fourth Amendment Protection Act, to clarify that the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution protects U.S. citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures, even those that result from searches being done by a U.S. intelligence agency monitoring a foreign national overseas.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) introduced a bipartisan bill Friday before senators left for Christmas break that would establish a commission to develop a national strategy for reducing child abuse fatalities.

The Protect Our Kids Act would create a special task force dedicated to reducing child abuse and neglect in America.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) introduced a bill Wednesday that would grant portions of the District of Columbia statehood.

The New Columbia Admissions Act, S. 3696, would make the areas outside the White House, Capitol and Supreme Court that are currently part of D.C., a new state called New Columbia.

The House will take up a bill later this week that would revise the administrative authorities of the D.C. courts.

The Senate passed the D.C. Courts and Public Defender Service Act this summer, meaning if the House passes it as well, S. 1379 will head to President Obama’s desk for his signature.

Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) questioned why the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) spent $70.8 million for a faulty Army garrison in Afghanistan.

"It looks like we paid $70 million for a contract that delivered next to nothing — any reasonable person is going to ask why," said McCaskill, who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight, in a statement Tuesday. "Every taxpayer dollar spent in Afghanistan is a dollar that wasn't spent to build a school or repair a road right here at home, and I think it's critical that we really scrutinize what we're getting for the money we're spending on projects halfway around the world."

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told the federal judiciary Thursday to release a budget plan ahead of the pending sequestration cuts. 

Grassley, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he thought most of the cuts should come from conference expenses and travel for judges, rather than employee layoffs.

“The federal court system should have a detailed plan to ensure as little disruption as possible in case sequestration occurs,” Grassley said in a statement Thursday. “I’ve outlined a great deal of questionable spending by the federal judiciary that could easily be curbed to give the cost saving a jump start.”

A  group of House and Senate Republican lawmakers demanded an investigation Monday into the Obama administration’s management of the Direct Loan education program.

House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-Minn.) along with Reps. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and Judy Biggert (R-Ill.) and members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee — Sens. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) — sent a letter Monday to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting an investigation into the Obama administration’s management of the Direct Loan program.

“The sheer volume of complaints about the Direct Loan program is extremely disconcerting, and raises serious questions about the Obama administration’s ability to serve student loan borrowers effectively,” Kline said in a statement Monday. “With the federal government now responsible for all student lending, we have a responsibility to conduct strong oversight of the Direct Loan program to ensure it is working for borrowers and taxpayers.”

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Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday to delegate a review of FBI whistleblower protections mandated by the president to the department’s inspector general.

In a letter sent to Holder Thursday, Grassley said that the Justice Department has a “horrendous” record when it comes to rectifying FBI whistleblower cases.