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The release of the redacted report came just two days after Open the Government and POGO filed an appeal after their Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to access the report was blocked.
"We're pleased that this watchdog report is finally is seeing the light of day, but remain concerned that the Department's redactions may go too far," said Danielle Brian, executive director at the Project On Government Oversight. "An Inspector General shouldn't have to rely on congressional pressure and media attention to publicly release its unclassified findings. We'll be closely watching DHS and other agencies for future attempts to muzzle their watchdogs with overreaching secrecy claims."
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A senior official told a meeting of A-10 personnel that the Air Force has no intention of fully implementing the re-winging effort or of keeping any more A-10s flying than those that have already been upgraded, thwarting Congressional legislation.
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The House voted to extend Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, a warrantless surveillance authority that is targeted at foreigners but affects many Americans.
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Recovery from the 2017 hurricanes will mean billions of dollars in federal disaster spending. Oversight of such large amounts will be vital, and providing adequate funds for that oversight will ensure that the recovery money is effectively spent.
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The survey found that 68 percent of Americans believe the government is doing a bad job fighting corruption. Despite Trump’s promises to curb corruption, 33 percent of the public believes that most govt officials abuse power for personal gain.
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Since 9/11, military spending has markedly increased. Despite this, military leaders constantly claim that their budgets are constrained. What’s eating up their budgets? To Grazier, the answer is simple: The military is wasting money on massive and over-budget weapon programs, like the F-35 and B-21.
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It’s hard to believe, but the U.S. may become an even more ardent arms peddler. “The Trump administration is nearing completion of a new `Buy American’ plan that calls for U.S. military attachés and diplomats to help drum up business overseas for the U.S. weapons industry,” Reuters reported.
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Get to Know The Constitution Project at POGO
Learn about TCP's issues:
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POGO in the News
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“The jury's still out on the office,” said Nick Schwellenbach, director of investigations at POGO. “…I have heard almost nothing about what it's concretely doing to protect whistleblowers, making the VA a culture where employees feel comfortable raising concerns, and improving the quality of VA healthcare.”
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Scott Amey, general counsel at the Project on Government Oversight: "While the potential violations of the Constitution’s emoluments clause come to mind, I think President Trump’s failure to establish a genuine blind trust for all of his business assets and investments was particularly egregious. His decision bucked years of precedent to ensure the White House isn’t above the law, and as a result, every policy decision raises questions about whether his actions are in the best interest of taxpayers or Trump and his family. It’s really hard to take the president’s call to drain the swamp seriously when he’s standing in the middle of it."
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“The government will see that and say, OK, we basically have got free rein here. To whatever degree they are using this for routine investigations now, it will increase dramatically,” said Jake Laperruque, senior counsel at the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington watchdog group.
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Liz Hempowicz, public policy director the nonprofit Project on Government Oversight, was less enthusiastic. POGO has opposed the overall bill as an invasion of privacy. “It’s encouraging that Congress has recognized that intelligence community contractors should have whistleblower protections restored,” she told Government Executive. “However, the protections included in S. 139 lack the enforcement mechanisms necessary to ensure that IC contractors aren’t subject to retaliation. Further, it’s disappointing that these protections are tied to warrantless surveillance authority that may affect many Americans.”
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According to a report from the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), Todd Mathes, the civilian program element manager for Air Combat Command, recently told a room of 100 individuals involved with the program that the wing replacement "was not going to happen." In light of the report, the Air Force said no decision is final.
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“According to Mr. Mathes’s reported statements, as the wings wear out, the Air Force will allow the number of flyable A-10s to draw down to 171 aircraft,” POGO’s Dan Grazier, a former Marine officer, reports. “As the number of operational aircraft falls, so, too, will the number of A-10 squadrons, going from nine squadrons down to six. Six is exactly the number the USAF is planning for, according to Congressional testimony by Air Force Lieutenant Generals Jerry Harris and Arnold Bunch.”
[...] So for now, the Warthog’s future remains cloudy — but one thing is clear: As long as the A-10 remains on the chopping block, folks like Grazier’s sources and McSally will clearly do whatever it takes to convince lawmakers and the American public it shouldn’t be.
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Despite cries from Congress to keep the A-10 flying and funding for new wings outlined in the fiscal year 2018 defence policy and appropriations bills, air force leadership neither has plans to implement the re-winging programme nor fly more than the aircraft that already received upgrades, according to a 17 January from the Project on Government Oversight.
The A-10’s civilian programme manager at Air Combat Command told USAF personnel the re-winging effort will not happen, POGO reports. That will force the USAF to cut three of its nine A-10 squadrons.
In 2007, the USAF awarded Boeing a $2 billion contract to deliver 242 replacement wing kits and extend the A-10’s life by 20 years. There is a dispute among the three parties – the USAF, Boeing and POGO – over how many wing sets have been completed. The USAF says 173 wing kits for the A-10 have been ordered. Boeing says it has already delivered 173 wing kits for the A-10, but several more remain on back order. POGO, meanwhile, says only 171 wing kits have been delivered, with no more deliveries planned.
In any event, the air force has never extended the order beyond the first 173 wing kits, a Boeing spokesperson tells FlightGlobal. POGO reports the contract lapsed in 2016.
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Katherine Hawkins, an investigator at the nonpartisan Project On Government Oversight, said Congress used to be better at seeking in a bipartisan manner prosecutions for perjury, particularly after the Watergate scandal in the 1970s. She said, over the years a large gap emerged between vigorously prosecution of lies to the FBI and those to Congress, something she blames on politics.
“It’s really unfortunate the extent to which there is systematic nonenforcement on the law for making false statements to Congress, and this is only one example,” Hawkins said. One reason for nonenforcement, she believes, is that “very often in high profile cases, it’s a senior member of one of the political parties who’s accused of saying something that’s not true.”
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On Jan. 17, 2018, the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) reported that Todd Mathes, the A-10 Program Element Manager for Air Combat Command, the Air Force’s top warfighting command, had made the service’s position clear at a routine review meeting.
Todd Mathes stressed that a rebooted re-wing program for the Warthogs “was not going to happen,” the anonymous individuals told POGO. This in turn would allow the Air Force to eliminate three A-10 squadrons, reducing the total number from nine to six. This is an idea the service floated in 2017, only to meet significant resistance from the aircraft’s supporters in Congress.
Mathes comments would seem to contradict these statements, but in response to a query from POGO, the Air Force further clarified that it has no plans at present to continue with the re-wing project beyond the work outlined in defense budget Congress passed for the 2018 fiscal year. This included $103 million to restart production of replacement wings and purchase sets for four aircraft.
“The Air Force plans to use the $103 million authorized in the FY18 NDAA to award a contract, establish a new wing production line and produce four additional A-10 wings,” a spokesperson for the service told POGO. “Establishing the production line will enable the Air Force to procure additional wings if the decision is made to do so in future budgets.”
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In 2014, the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), released the results of an investigation into FARA compliance. The study found “a pattern of lax enforcement” of FARA requirements by the DOJ, and that the “office responsible for administering the law is a record-keeping mess.”
Lydia Dennett, who works for POGO, recently published an article illustrating how these enforcement issues enabled Paul Manafort to flout the law for over a decade. On reform efforts, Dennett writes:
“In July, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on oversight of FARA that indicated broad bipartisan support for addressing some of the law’s failings. And throughout the past year, several pieces of legislation to reform it have been introduced, though none have yet passed”.
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