Will The Real Watchdogs Please Stand Up?

By Elizabeth Newell

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ranking member Rep Darrell Issa, Calif., is calling for the Office of Management and Budget to be present at an upcoming hearing on the stimulus. The Thursday hearing, called "How Recovery Act Recipients Account for their Use of Stimulus Dollars," will feature witnesses from the Government Accountability Office, the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, and the Education and Transportation Departments. But Issa says new information shows OMB is playing a more significant role than previously thought, particularly when it comes to filtering job creation numbers.

The minority committee office is citing a document obtained by USA Today which lists 12 stimulus fund recipients whose reports contained "unrealistic job data". The document states that "at the request of OMB, and with [RAT] Board concurrence" the reports were omitted from the most recent posting of data to Recovery.gov.

Issa and his staff say this instance is just one of many indicating serious issues with stimulus job reporting, but that it also shows OMB's significant role in vetting these jobs numbers.

"Now we learn that OMB is playing an active role in trying to filter information. Given this hands-on role that the administration is playing, it would be appropriate to have OMB represented at Thursday's hearing," Issa said.