Three bills introduced by lawmakers on Tuesday would help watchdogs throughout the federal government better oversee waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars. The ARTICLE ONE Act, from Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Mike Gallagher (R-WI); the Whistleblower Protection Improvement Act, from Oversight and Reform Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-NY); and the Accountability for Acting Officials Act, from Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), would improve how government serves the people, and National Taxpayers Union is proud to support each bill.
The Assuring that Robust, Thorough, and Informed Congressional Leadership is Exercised Over National Emergencies (ARTICLE ONE) Act would change how presidents can spend taxpayer dollars during national emergencies, requiring a more active role from Congress in approving an emergency declaration. The bill, which was earlier introduced in the Senate by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), would essentially flip the sequence for Congressional approval of presidential emergency declarations. Currently, the president may declare a national emergency and Congress may disapprove of the emergency declaration (but rarely does so). The ARTICLE ONE Act would instead require Congress to approve of an emergency declaration in order for it to continue beyond 30 days, in most cases. We have seen either the abuse or potential for abuse of national emergencies from policymakers in both parties, including former President Trump’s transfer of military construction funds to build a fence at the U.S.-Mexico border and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s urging of President Biden to use emergency powers to address climate change. By forcing Congress off the sidelines on presidential emergencies, the ARTICLE ONE Act would better ensure taxpayer dollars are not wasted when presidents unilaterally declare emergencies.
The Whistleblower Protection Improvement Act (WPIA), which was supported by several other Democrats -- and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) on the Republican side -- includes a number of best-practice improvements to whistleblower rights in federal law. Whistleblowers are the cornerstone of government-wide efforts to root out waste, fraud, and abuse, saving taxpayers billions of dollars every year. Unfortunately, improvements in whistleblower rights and protections have not kept pace with the growing challenges facing whistleblowers in particular and, broadly, an expanding federal government. The WPIA would, among other important initiatives, provide whistleblowers access to court and jury trials and protect them from retaliatory investigations. NTU is proud to support the bill along with a cross-ideological set of good-government groups, including the Government Accountability Project (GAP), the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA), and Whistleblowers of America.
Finally, Rep. Porter’s Accountability for Acting Officials Act would place prudent limits on the amount of time an individual can serve as the acting head of a federal agency, while also requiring acting Inspectors General (IGs) to be qualified for the job. This would help ensure that presidents cannot conduct an end-run around the Senate’s constitutional authority to advise and consent on presidential appointments. It would also limit the opportunity for presidents to select IGs that are loyal first and foremost to a president rather than to protecting taxpayer dollars. NTU supports the bill along with 13 other good-government groups from across the ideological spectrum.
In short, these three bills merit bipartisan support in Congress and should be signed into law as soon as practicable. We hope that the relevant House committees take up the legislation shortly, and that House leadership makes time for these good-government bills on the House floor at some point in 2021.