Congress should pass legislation in 2015 to increase government transparency and oversight, but simply holding more hearings would be beneficial, too, according to a government accountability advocate.
“Congress doesn’t have to solely issue laws to get more transparency,” Cause of Action Executive Director Dan Epstein told the Washington Examiner.
Last week, Epstein recommended legislative actions for Congress to increase oversight. His comments came during a panel hosted by the Sunlight Foundation that included experts from other transparency advocacy groups.
“I don’t necessarily think Congress will pass those things,” Epstein said. “I think it’s legislation that Congress should consider.”
Even if the 114th Congress doesn’t pass any of Cause of Action’s suggested laws, he sees other ways to improve transparency and oversight.
“They can do things like conduct congressional hearings,” Epstein said.
Specifically, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform can issue more investigations and reports.
“There is an interest in committing more congressional oversight,” Epstein said. He was hopeful that the committee’s new chairman, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, would satisfy that interest.
Many of Epstein’s recommendations for the Sunlight panel would require legislation.
“We have an opportunity for … all these things to be at least introduced into Congress and considered,” Epstein said.
One suggestion was to reform the 1966 Freedom of Information Act.
Last week, the House failed to vote on a Senate-passed law to improve FOIA, which would have made it more difficult to withhold federal documents.
“I couldn’t tell you why the House of Representatives didn’t pass the FOIA Reform bill,” Epstein said.
The advocate also suggested that FOIA be updated to keep up with technology.
Another recommendation was for Congress to pass the Grant Reform and Transparency Act, which would improve grants’ application, awarding and auditing process.
Epstein’s other recommendations included amending the law that governs the inspector generals, the government’s internal watchdogs, amending the Federal Records Act and using statutory tools to prevent improper tax payments.
