Policy Briefs

MilCon, VA and State Department Funding in Omnibus

The House of Representatives drove home a $447 billion omnibus spending bill yesterday loaded with six of the seven appropriations bills...

UPDATE: President Signs Defense Authorization Bill with $4 billion in Earmarks

(October 30) President Obama signed a $680 billion defense authorization bill this week—the largest such bill ever—with a declaration...

Contractor Accountability Legislation in Defense Authorization

One of the most interesting—and neglected—sections of the annual defense authorization bill steers annual contracting policy both for DOD...

UPDATE: Congress Passes Final $42.8 DHS Approps Bill

(October 21) Congress handed off a $42.8 billion appropriations bill funding the Department of Homeland Security through fiscal year 2010...

Congress Sends $106 Billion Supplemental to President

(June 26) We found 13 undisclosed earmarks worth $1.35 billion in the supplemental, including $904 million for seven C-130J aircraft,...

Bailout Bank Bio: Bank of America (and Merrill Lynch)

On September 15, 2008 Bank of America acquired the investment bank Merrill Lynch. Bank of America Bank of America is the nation’s...

F-22: No More Second Helpings

Goodness, the difference an economic crisis can make. A few years ago, advertisements by defense contractors arguing that the U.S. should...

Nuclear Weapons Spending in the Omnibus

A look at the nuclear weapons budget in the omnibus reveals that while Congress is keeping nuke funding on a short leash, a controversial...

National Security Spending in the Stimulus

The axe has fallen on the final version of the stimulus bill, and some national security spending ended up on the cutting room floor....

Water Infrastructure Spending in the House Economic Stimulus

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructs large water projects (dams, levees, pumping sand on beaches)...

Engineering Boondoggles

While Washington is wringing its hands about the automatic across-the-board budget cuts known as...