Topic:
Oversight
Latest Headlines
Latest Headlines
Many countermeasures in national stockpile not approved for children
Two-fifths of the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear countermeasures in the Strategic National Stockpile have not been approved for children of any age, the Government Accountability Office says.
VA construction costs and delays substantially inceased at four largest sites, GAO report says
Costs substantially increased and schedules were delayed for Veterans Affairs medical center construction projects in Denver, Las Vegas, New Orleans and Orlando, a recently release April 4 Government Accountability Office report says. As of November 2012, the cost increases for the four projects ranged from 59 percent to 144 percent, with a total cost increase of nearly $1.5 billion and an average increase of around $366 million, the report says.
Representatives call for CFATS review
In a May 2 letter (.pdf), Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) say that in light of the April 17 explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, a presidentially appointed commission should review the CFATS program. The explosion at the West, Texas fertilizer plant killed at least 14, many of them firefighters responding to a fire at the plant.
Compassionate release program for prisoners run on 'ad hoc' basis, OIG says
Federal prisons can release inmates early under the compassionate-release program, for reasons such as terminal illness, but the criteria for decisions are vague and inconsistent, a report from the Justice Department office of inspector general says. That results in "ad hoc decision making" at the Bureau of Prisons, the report says.
Third Amendment constrains military cyber operation, argues EPIC lawyer
Alan Butler, EPIC's appellate advocacy counsel, in an article in the American University Law Review ( link at SSRN ) says military cyber operations may easily meet thresholds established by the 18th century constitutional prohibition against soldiers quartering during peacetime in "any house, without the consent of the Owner" and during wartime "but in a manner to be prescribed by law."
CMS payment error rates invalid, state data not updated under new adjustments
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services state-level Medicaid payment error rates could be invalid because CMS did not update state data collected more than 2 years ago to reflect corrections or adjustments in the way error rates are calculated, a recently released March 29 Government Accountability Office report says (.pdf).
Supreme Court rules Virginia freedom of information law is for state residents only
As part of its unanimous decision in McBurney v. Young (.pdf), the Court said the state's freedom of information laws were designed to help Virginia citizens monitor the performance their state's government agencies.
Emergency evacuation plans around nuclear plants may rest on faulty assumption
Auditors say the prospect of scared residents from outside of the 10 mile radius of a nuclear plant undertaking a self-initiated evacuation in the event of an incident--whether necessary or not--at a rate greater than projected by a flawed estimate could undermine implementation of emergency measures within the 10 mile radius.
Auditors fault waterfall development in GOES-R ground system development delays
Commerce Department auditors say a waterfall systems development approach contributed to risk that a ground system will not be ready in time for the planned October 2015 launch of the first of four geostationary weather satellite meant to replace an aging existing constellation.
Federal air marshal wins appeal in whistleblower case
A federal air marshal's disclosures to the media may have qualified for whistleblower protection, a federal appeals court ruled April 26. The Merit Systems Protection Board had upheld the air marshal's firing, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has now vacated that decision and sent the case back to the board.
