Project on Government Oversight (POGO)

POGO is an independent nonprofit that investigates and exposes corruption and other misconduct in order to achieve a more effective, accountable, open,  and honest federal government.

Why do we exist?

POGO's work is unique in that our goal is not only to expose corruption and other types of misconduct within the federal government, but also to propose solutions and work toward their implementation.  We evaluate our impact by looking at whether or not policy reforms or spending cuts have been implemented as a result of our investigations.

POGO was founded by Dina Rasor, twenty-eight years ago with just a borrowed phone and desk, motivated by the idea that our government should work for us, not for special interests. The Project On Government Oversight strives to investigate and expose corruption and other misconduct in order to achieve a more accountable federal government. Our current Executive Director, Danielle Brian was voted along with Al Gore and Mayor Newsome of San Francisco, in 2007 as one of Ethisphere’s top “Most Influential People in Business Ethics”.

What have you accomplished?

We have been applauded for our work by members of Congress, congressional staff, various nonprofits and the media. The following are just a few examples of POGO's accomplishments in the past year:

• Witnessed Congress Create a Federal Contractor Misconduct Database. POGO unveiled its new and improved Federal Contractor Misconduct Database (FCMD), and worked with Representative Carolyn Maloney on legislation that would require the government to create and maintain a similar contractor database.  POGO's new database includes updated misconduct information for the government's top 100 contractors, and is now more user-friendly.  It has been well received by many government officials, small businesses, and journalists. Even the contracting industry has gone on record to sheepishly acknowledge the need for a government-wide database that includes objective information.  The launch of POGO's database was announced in The New York Times, and has been cited or used in numerous news articles and popular blogs.

• Revealed Air Force generals spending millions of tax payer dollars to fly in custom built ‘Comfort Capsules’ while our troops fly in seats barely bolted to the floor. This story was covered across the country from the Washington Post to the Seattle Times, was the lead story on the July 22nd Colbert Report, and prompted bipartisan congressional outrage and questioning at one of the aforementioned generals hearings for a higher post.

• Successfully Ousted U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch. POGO and its allies had long pushed for the removal of Scott Bloch, under whose tenure protections for whistleblowers had greatly suffered. In April of this year the FBI took the unusual step of raiding and seizing files both at his office and his home. While Bloch attempted to delay his departure until January 2009 he was ultimately removed from office in October 2008.and will replace the contractor with an in-house security staff.

• Exposed Government Failure to Monitor Commercial Airline Parts, by revealing the existence of an Inspector General report which highlighted the failure of the Federal Aviation Administration to make sure that parts produced for use in commercial airliners met strict safety standards. The release of the IG report led to a wave of groundings and safety inspections by airlines such as Southwest, United and others.

• POGO Draws Attention to Lax Security at Peach Bottom Nuclear Power Plant. POGO worked with a CBS news affiliate to draw national media and congressional attention to its series highlighting a whistleblower at the Peach Bottom plant in Pennsylvania.  The young contract security guard, employed by The Wackenhut Corporation, gave video of sleeping guards to the news outlet after his efforts to alert management and the government about the safety issues had been stymied.  In pursuit of systemic change, POGO encouraged an Inspector General inquiry, and pressed the NRC to dramatically accelerate plans to improve nuclear security regulations, as well as to improve the handling of future whistleblower concerns.  Exelon, the company in charge of a number of nuclear power plants, recently fired Wackenhut from all of its plants across the country.

• New Wartime Contracting Commission Established. Congress passed legislation, co-sponsored by Senators Claire McCaskill and Jim Webb, to establish an independent and bi-partisan commission to investigate U.S. wartime contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The commission is modeled after a committee created by Harry Truman when he was a Senate freshman.  Senator McCaskill praised POGO's work, as well as that of other watchdog groups, in supporting the legislation.

• Whistleblower Protections Gained for Department of Defense Contractors. POGO and a coalition of other organizations worked to include in the final defense authorization legislation an amendment introduced by Senators McCaskill and Susan Collins, which provides whistleblower protections for employees of Defense Department contractors and grantees.  The amendment gives contractor employees the right to a jury trial in federal district court.  It also increases protected channels for communicating concerns, including to the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction; and broadens protected speech categories to include threats to public safety, gross mismanagement, and gross waste of DOD funds.

• Missile Defense Failures Revealed. Inside sources and leaked documents allowed POGO to publicly reveal that the Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) $1 billion Sea-Based X-Band Radar, the lynchpin of the MDA's missile tracking system, is at significant risk in the harsh environment of the northern Pacific where the radar system is supposed to be stationed.  POGO also revealed that numerous missile defense silos in Alaska had flooded due to incompetence by the MDA and the Boeing Company.

• Exposing Weakened Helicopter Requirements. A POGO investigation uncovered an improper requirement change in one of the Air Force's largest acquisition programs, the combat search and rescue helicopter replacement program (CSAR-X).  It highlights the potential of a serious systemic blind spot in the Pentagon's oversight of requirements for its weapons systems, where the interests of contracting officials may trump those of war fighters.  Congress and the Air Force have met in response to POGO's report, and the Air Force has already admitted that there was a lack of transparency in that phase of the acquisition process.

• F-22 Corrosion Revealed. POGO worked with the Salt Lake Tribune to expose that current major F-22 corrosion problems were actually discovered by the Air Force and Lockheed Martin (the F-22's manufacturer) a decade ago.  Yet neither the Air Force nor the manufacturer corrected the problem.  The F-22, estimated to cost more than $130 million per plane, has been plagued by cost overruns and delays since its beginning.
• Contracting Reforms Enacted in Legislation. Multiple bills were introduced in the House and Senate to enact contracting reforms similar to POGO's recommendations to increase transparency and competitiveness, and reduce the use of risky contract vehicles.

• Tackling Abuse of Secrecy. POGO successfully worked with families of 9/11 victims to curtail the abuse of the Department of Homeland Security's use of a secrecy marking called Sensitive Security Information.  In addition, POGO—along with Senator Tom Coburn, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and our nonprofit allies—succeeded in preventing excessive secrecy concerning the Department of Transportation's and other agencies' budget justifications.  Such secrecy would have undermined attempts to challenge earmarks, and made the congressional budget process even more opaque.

• Rapid Procurement System Failures Exposed. POGO assisted a Marine Corps whistleblower in his efforts to alert Congress and the public to egregious delays in the Marine Corps rapid procurement system, which prevented troops from getting the equipment they needed in a timely manner.  As a result of POGO's and the Government Accountability Project's work with the media on this issue, the House Armed Services Committee held a vital hearing on Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPS), one of the systems that had been delayed; there were significant increases in appropriations for MRAPs; and the Pentagon increased the vehicle's acquisition priority.

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