Congressional oversight news stories on Newser

Homeland Security Hiding Its Emails: Insiders

Matt Cantor — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 10:30:56 CDT

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!” The emails also raise the...

Choose, America: Big Banks or Middle Class

Harry Kimball — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:10:32 CST

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. At midcentury,...

Congress' New Whipping Boy: The Fed

Jane Yager — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:54:12 CST

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

Jason Farago — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 06:32:00 CDT

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

Jason Farago — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:30:01 CDT

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

Kevin Spak — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:55:35 CDT

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)

Clay Dillow — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 09:25:02 CST

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 nothing...

Rove Used Federal Coin to Help GOP in '06

Ambreen Ali — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:31:01 CDT

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 303...

Dems Set Their Own Terms for Bailout Plan

Jason Farago — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 06:43:31 CDT

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...