POGO -- Do you know what real congressional oversight looks like?

 

Do you know what real congressional oversight looks like?

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  POGO 

  From:reply@pogo.org

  To:m.mk@...

  Tue, Oct 20 2026 at 4:01 PM

  View in browser Mark, we are the Project On Government Oversight, and we’ve spent more than 40 years working to keep the federal government accountable to the people. Across administrations, we’ve seen what happens when Congress takes its oversight role seriously, and what happens when it doesn’t. Oversight is not optional. It’s the job your members of Congress sign up to do.    Right now, the balance of power between the branches is under real strain. Since the start of its term, the Trump administration has blown past the constitutional limits on executive power.   It has overridden Congress’s spending decisions, undermining the legislative branch’s power of the purse.   It has executed military strikes on civilian boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, captured the president of a foreign country, and started an illegal and unpopular war, all without congressional approval.   It has undercut Congress in a hundred ways.  An overreaching executive branch is supposed to be reined in by Congress, and that has largely not happened. Strong oversight is critical right now to restore the checks and balances in our federal government. That takes members of Congress willing to ask hard questions and draw hard lines that cannot be overstepped, no matter which party holds the White House. This is the job we elect them to do.    Here are the eight principles that a pro-oversight member of Congress must uphold:   Presidential accountability Congress maintains power of the purse Federal spending transparency Preserve agency oversight Protect whistleblowers Strongly vet cabinet secretaries Only Congress declares war Actual checks and balances   Our guide explains these core constitutional principles, and how members of Congress can put them into practice: Dig deeper now. Use it to hold your representatives to these standards, because the people you trust to represent your interests should be committed to oversight.   There is no democracy without oversight, Mark. For more than four decades, POGO has been working hard to reverse many White House actions: fighting to preserve inspectors’ general positions, protect whistleblowers, restore independence and funding to crucial watchdog offices, and defend civil servants from political firings and retaliation. It’s your support that makes that possible. Thank you for doing your part to keep our government honest to the people