Congressional oversight

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Wild Claims Emerge in Congress' UFO Hearing
Wild Claims Emerge in
Congress' UFO Hearing
the rundown
Jul 27, 2023 11:48 AM CDT

Wild Claims Emerge in Congress' UFO Hearing

Multiple people have been injured by UAPs, witness testifies

(Newser) - "Nonhuman biologics" were recovered from crashed UFOs seized by the US government in secret, a former military intelligence officer told lawmakers under oath on Wednesday during a hearing on the potential national security threats posed by what's officially dubbed unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs. Retired US Air Force...

Homeland Security Hiding Its Emails: Insiders

Employees concerned over lengthy vetting process for internal records

(Newser) - Homeland Security insiders spent months complaining that top Obama appointees were improperly delaying the release of potentially embarrassing files sought under the Freedom of Information Act. In a raft of uncensored emails obtained by the AP , insiders called the vetting process “meddling," "crazy" and "bananas!”...

Choose, America: Big Banks or Middle Class
 Choose, America: 
 Big Banks or Middle Class 
ELIZABETH WARREN
Dec 3, 2009 11:10 AM CST

Choose, America: Big Banks or Middle Class

Bank shenanigans are destroying the building block of America

(Newser) - The inevitable consequence of letting big banks run wild is nothing less than the extinction of the American middle class. "Unthinkable,” Elizabeth Warren writes—but a real and dire possibility. Warren, chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel on the bailouts, has seen the numbers, and they aren't pretty....

Congress' New Whipping Boy: The Fed

Bernanke & Co. run into populist ire over Wall St bailouts, unemployment

(Newser) - When Fed Chair Ben Bernanke goes before Congress next month seeking a second term, he'll run straight into cantankerous legislators riding a tide of populist rage over the Wall Street bailout and high unemployment. While the Fed acted decisively to bail out the financial markets last year, it's widely viewed...

Small Banks May Need More Fed Aid

(Newser) - The Treasury may have to expand its toxic asset programs and repeat stress tests, particularly for smaller banks, a US bailout watchdog panel finds. While larger banks have begun to recover, smaller financial institutions remain exposed to billions in losses from outstanding commercial property loans and are still unable to...

Congress Wary of Fed's Growing Power
Congress Wary of Fed's Growing Power
ANALYSIS
Jun 19, 2009 8:30 AM CDT

Congress Wary of Fed's Growing Power

After decades of deference, legislators turn on central bank

(Newser) - Tim Geithner testified before the Senate Banking Committee yesterday, but as the Washington Post reports, it's not the Treasury but the Fed whose growing powers most worry legislators. Republicans and Democrats are both venting that Ben Bernanke's office did little to stop the excesses of the boom years, only to...

Right Can't Stand 'Cranky' TARP Overseer

Liberals love Warren, but financial industry sees an activist

(Newser) - Dr. Phil, Jon Stewart, and liberals everywhere may love her, but Elizabeth Warren is causing an uproar in Washington, Politico reports. Conservatives and financial service lobbyists say the Harvard professor is using her post atop the TARP oversight committee to push an anti-industry agenda, exploring liberal approaches like nationalization and...

Report Rips TARP Strategy (or Lack Thereof)

Failure to track funds or evaluate effectiveness troubles panel

(Newser) - So much for transparency. A blistering draft report being issued by a congressional oversight panel today says Treasury has failed to reveal its strategy for stabilizing the financial system and failed to answer questions asked by the watchdog group, the Wall Street Journal reports. But worse still, it’s done...

Rove Used Federal Coin to Help GOP in '06

Officials traveled, gave out grants to help incumbents: report

(Newser) - Karl Rove helped direct federal officials and funds to 99 congressional districts where Republican candidates were threatened in the 2006 elections, the Washington Post reports. Many presidents, including Bill Clinton, have briefed cabinet members before reelection efforts, but the “gross abuse” of public White House funds for at least...

Dems Set Their Own Terms for Bailout Plan

Congress wants oversight of treasury, homeowner assistance

(Newser) - As Hank Paulson did the Sunday talk shows, Democrats in the House and Senate set down their own terms for a plan to rescue the nation's financial institutions—one that would give Congress greater oversight over the treasury. Barney Frank, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, put forward his...

Charming Army Brass Get Little Rebuke From Vet Care Panel

Despite slow progress since Walter Reed flap

(Newser) - Faced with little evidence of progress in caring for wounded veterans 16 months after the Walter Reed scandal, US Army generals resorted to battlefield tactics in a hearing before a House subcommittee yesterday, Dana Milbank writes in the Washington Post: “A tactical retreat in the face of an overwhelming...

Senate to Hold Drug Water Hearings
Senate to Hold Drug Water Hearings
Mar 11, 2008 6:50 AM CDT

Senate to Hold Drug Water Hearings

Lawmakers press EPA to establish task force on contaminants

(Newser) - Alarmed by an AP story, two top senators vowed yesterday to probe drug traces in US drinking water. Sen. Barbara Boxer and Sen. Frank Lautenberg plan to lead hearings next month to "protect our residents and clean up our water supply," Lautenberg said. The first of AP's three...

Photo Looks Like Trouble for Clemens

Fan's party snapshot could figure in potential federal investigation

(Newser) - An 11-year-old fan's photo of Roger Clemens could mean trouble for the scandal-battered pitcher, especially if the congressional committee pursuing the steroids investigation refers the case to the Justice Department, the New York Daily News reports. The image is allegedly of Clemens at a 1988 party given by Jose Canseco,...

Gates Apologizes to Hillary
Gates Apologizes
to Hillary
Jul 26, 2007 5:12 PM CDT

Gates Apologizes to Hillary

Defense sec tries to cool feud over challenge to patriotism

(Newser) - Hillary shouldn't have been called a traitor, Robert Gates wrote yesterday in a letter apologizing for a deputy's refusal to share Iraq withdrawal plans with members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The deputy had charged that the divulging the information could “reinforce enemy propaganda.”

Secretive Veep Won't Give Up Documents

Cheney defies executive order to provide sensitive info

(Newser) - For the past 4 years, Dick Cheney's office has declined to file reports on classified information in its possession, flouting an executive order. When pressed, the VP's staff recently proposed abolishing the oversight office, reports the Washington Post. Says the chair of the House committee that released a chronology...

Democrats Dole Out Subpoenas
Democrats Dole Out Subpoenas
Apr 26, 2007 8:58 AM CDT

Democrats Dole Out Subpoenas

Congress gets tough on U.S. attorneys players—and calls Condi in to talk Iraq

(Newser) - The Democratic Congress flexed its oversight muscle today, with both houses dishing out subpoenas all the way up to Condi Rice. A House committee subpoenaed the Secretary of State to discuss the lead-up to the Iraq War, while both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees summoned aides involved in the...

Dems Score With Subpoenas
Dems Score
With Subpoenas
Mar 20, 2007 9:03 AM CDT

Dems Score With Subpoenas

They can't pass bills, but they can sure hold hearings

(Newser) - Democrats haven't managed to score with a single one of the bills drafted in their giddy first 100 hours, but playing hardball with hearings has proved more fruitful. In cranking up the congressional oversight machinery, write Richard Simon and Noam Levey, they've dominated headlines and applied pressure to the administration.

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