The POGO Podcast: Recent Episodes
POGO Podcast
The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is a nonpartisan watchdog that exposes government corruption and fights for reforms in order to achieve a more effective, open, and ethical federal government. Founded in 1981, it is completely independent and espouses no partisan ideology. POGO is widely praised by Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle for its unbiased, fact-based work, and enjoys a reputation for independence and excellence among federal workers, whistleblowers, nonprofits, and the media. The group believes the people have a right to know how government decisions are made. POGO is the People’s Watchdog. The Project On Government Oversight relies on thousands of small donors and does not accept contributions from for-profit corporations, labor unions, any government, or anyone who stands to benefit financially from its work.
Walt Shaub, Senior Ethics Fellow at POGO, and Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, the Government Affairs Manager at POGO, talk turkey on all things relating to congressional ethics, including why it matters, what Congress should be done about it, and what some members of Congress are already doing about it. This informal chat is a good companion to the written analysis and offers some additional insights and perspectives.
Recording of a roundtable set up by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), a body that oversees the activities of America’s 58 so-called Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) operating around the country.
“We were fortunate,” one OPO official told [timestamp: 1:33] the group, “… if there is a silver lining to the Covid-19 cloud… {It’s that} HHS and CMS have certainly been distracted to (sic) a bigger issue {by the pandemic}.”
Read the investigation related to this recording: https://www.pogo.org/investigation/2020/09/your-transplant-dollars-at-work/
In this panel discussion, three experts address the serious questions the COVID-19 pandemic has raised surrounding First Amendment rights, especially lockdown orders and the need for social distancing measures. Protests and religious gatherings during the outbreak have raised whether such conduct should be exempt from shutdowns, and have already led to lawsuits. Panelists will also discuss what rules should govern online activity seeking to organize public gatherings or spreading misinformation about the pandemic.
The panelists include Esha Bhandari, Staff Attorney with the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project; Emma Llansó, Director of Free Expression Project at the Center for Democracy & Technology; and Micah Schwartzman, Professor and Director of the Karsh Center for Law and Democracy at the University of Virginia School of Law.
The panel is moderated by Jake Laperruque, Senior Counsel at the Constitution Project at POGO.
Listen to an update on the growing number of panels charged with overseeing the federal government's pandemic response. Featuring POGO’s Director of Public Policy, Liz Hempowicz, interviewed by POGO's Justin Rood.
Topics include: - The new Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery (SIGPR) - The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) - The Congressional Oversight Commission (COC) - The new House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis (SCCC)
In this panel discussion hosted by the Project On Government Oversight (POGO), experts Dr. Scott Allen, Judge Bruce J. Einhorn, and Katherine Hawkins examine the risks created by immigration enforcement during the pandemic, with an emphasis on immigrant detention. ICE detention centers pose a high risk of COVID-19 transmission—a significant number of detainees have tested positive—and these detention centers appear ill-prepared to manage outbreaks.
Dr. Scott Allen is a professor emeritus at the University of California Riverside School of Medicine; medical director of The Access Clinic at Borrego Health; and co-founder of the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights at Brown University.
Judge Bruce J. Einhorn is an adjunct professor of immigration, asylum and refugee law at Pepperdine University and executive director of The Asylum Project.
Katherine Hawkins is a senior legal analyst for the Constitution Project at POGO and is an expert on immigration, detention, and human rights.
The panel was moderated by Jake Laperruque, senior counsel for the Constitution Project at POGO.
In this panel discussion, three experts (Pamela Metzger, Cherise Fanno Burdeen, and Sarah Turberville) discuss how shutdowns and emergency declarations are affecting access to justice across the country, endangering not only the right to a speedy trial, but also posing a grave risk of indefinite detention.
Pamela Metzger is the Director of the Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center at the SMU Dedman School of Law in Dallas, Texas. Cherise Fanno Burdeen is an Executive Partner at the Pretrial Justice Institute. Sarah Turberville is the Director of The Constitution Project at the Project On Government Oversight.
The panel was moderated by Jake Laperruque, Senior Counsel for The Constitution Project at POGO.
A briefing focused on various proposed surveillance measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and their constitutionality, provided by experts Deborah Brown, Greg Nojeim, and Dr. Michael Osterholm, and POGO's Jake Laperruque.
Dr. Michael Osterholm is the Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP)at the University of Minnesota. Deborah Brown is the Senior Researcher and Advocate for Digital Rights at Human Rights Watch. Greg Nojeim is the Senior Counsel and Director of the Freedom, Security, and Technology Project at the Center for Democracy & Technology. Jake Laperruque is the Senior Counsel for The Constitution Project at the Project On Government Oversight.
The briefing was moderated by Sarah Turberville, Director of The Constitution Project at the Project On Government Oversight.
A briefing on the Constitutional limits of pandemic-related travel restrictions provided by constitutional experts Liza Goitein and Lawrence O. Gostin.
Goitein is the codirector of the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty & National Security Program, and Gostin is the director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, as well as a university professor at Georgetown Law.
The briefing was moderated by Jake Laperruque, Senior Counsel for The Constitution Project at the Project On Government Oversight.
In light of recent reports, questions have been raised about the possibility that some elected officials may have used their access to non-public information to enrich themselves while the rest of us watched in fear as a deadly and mysterious pandemic unfolded before our eyes. Suspiciously timed stock sales by multiple members of Congress across both chambers and both parties illustrate the weaknesses in the current legal framework regulating how high-ranking government officials manage their finances while privy to information most Americans don’t have. Those rules should be strengthened so the public has faith that our leaders are using their positions to help us, not themselves.
Mazars, Deutsche Bank, McGahn, Kupperman, and more—a remarkable number of active suits hold the possibility of shaping significant new precedent for Congressional oversight.
Attorneys Mike Stern (@mls1776), who served as senior counsel to the House from 1996 to 2004, and Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck), a constitutional law expert and professor at the University of Texas, discuss a dozen recent and ongoing cases, where they stand, and what they could mean for Congressional oversight.
Case Reference Sheet and Speaker Bios: https://docs.pogo.org/Phone-Briefing-Reference-Sheet.pdf
The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) is a relatively unknown but incredibly influential office within the Department of Justice. It serves as the in-house legal expert for the executive and provides formal legal analysis considered to be binding on the executive branch. However, OLC's authority does not extend to the other branches of government. POGO Policy Director Liz Hempowicz and The Constitution Project at POGO Director Sarah Turberville hosted a phone briefing for Hill staff to give an overview of the office, the impact it has had on Congressional oversight, what weight Congress should give the analysis produced by the office, and proposals to reform how the office operates.
POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian delivers remarks on ethics in government to congregants at St. John's Episcopal Church, also known as the President's Church, in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, December 9th, 2018.
Interview with the Honorable Timothy K. Lewis by Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette on judicial independence and the role of the courts in our constitutional system.
While all eyes are upon President-Elect Donald Trump and his transition into office -- some exciting things have been happening under the radar in the lame duck Congress with the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
POGO's Policy Counsel, Liz Hempowicz, joins our latest podcast to talk about two good government wins included in the defense budget bill (for information access and whistleblower protections) as well as our hopes for the Inspector General Empowerment Act.
For more information on: - the NDAA conferees dropping harmful secrecy language http://www.pogo.org/blog/2016/11/ndaa-conferees-drop-secrecy-language.html - the NDAA expanding protections for military whistleblowers http://www.pogo.org/straus/issues/congress/2016/defense-policy-bill-expands.html - the IG Empowerment Act http://www.pogo.org/blog/2016/12/new-roadblock-for-ig-information-access.html
This podcast is moderated by Ari Goldberg and produced by Iulia Gheorghiu and Halle Zander, featuring original sounds from Bombadil.
There is a much easier -- and sneakier -- way to influence Congress than throwing press junkets and pouring money into lobbying activities. Congressional Fellows, employees who are embedded on Congressional staffs, can collect salaries from outside groups, including industry.
It sounds like every lobbyist's fantasy. But it's not fiction - it's a reality on Capitol Hill.
The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) raises this important issue in our latest podcast. POGO investigator Lydia Dennett talks about the gross lack of oversight in the Congressional Fellowship program.
You can read Dennett's in-depth report here: http://www.pogo.org/straus/issues/congress/2016/the-insidious-and-totally-legal-way-industry-infiltrated-congress.html
This podcast is moderated by Ari Goldberg and produced by Iulia Gheorghiu and Halle Zander, featuring original sounds from Bombadil.
Did you know that companies are extracting natural resources from public lands without giving taxpayers their fair share of the profits?
The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) raises this important issue in our latest podcast. POGO investigator Mia Steinle talks about the woefully outdated royalty programs for the mining and drilling of natural resources on public lands.
POGO and Taxpayers for Common Sense also just released a list of the top five reforms to the natural resource extraction system that were made under President Obama in the last eight years...along with the top five things that still need to be done. Read it here: http://www.pogo.org/our-work/articles/2016/natural-resource-reforms-priorities-progress.html
This podcast was recorded on September 22, 2016.
It is moderated by Ari Goldberg and produced by Iulia Gheorghiu, featuring original sounds from Bombadil.
The Pentagon is about to get even less transparent: the latest National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)bill includes a secrecy clause with a broad exemption for Freedom Of Information Act requests.
If we don't get Congress to change this provision in the NDAA, we may be stuck with a Pentagon that cannot be held accountable for wasting taxpayer money. POGO's Policy Counsel Elizabeth Hempowicz joins us to explain the ramifications of less DoD oversight.
Here is our bipartisan coalition's letter urging Congress to remove the secrecy clause: http://www.pogo.org/our-work/letters/2016/congress-protect-foia-from-pentagon.html
This podcast was recorded on September 15, 2016.
The podcast is moderated by Ari Goldberg and produced by Iulia Gheorghiu, featuring original sounds from Bombadil.
Wanna hear POGO's take on Trump's taxes and Hillary's emails?
Listen to POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian, General Counsel Scott Amey, and Open Government Manager Sean Moulton discuss these issues and more in this Campaign 2016 POGO Podcast.
This podcast was recorded on August 31, 2016.
The podcast is moderated by Ari Goldberg and produced by Iulia Gheorghiu. Featuring original sounds from Bombadil.
Dan Grazier of Project On Government Oversight questions Lieutenant General Christopher C. Bogdan about the "bulk buying" of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program at a press conference on April 26, 2016.
Lt. Gen. Bogdan is the Program Executive Officer for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office in Arlington, VA. The F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office is the Department of Defense's agency responsible for developing and acquiring the F-35A/B/C, the next-generation strike aircraft weapon system for the Navy, Air Force, Marines, and many allied nations.