Tomorrow, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the House Committee on Small Business will hold a joint hearing investigating the White House’s reported consideration of an executive order that would take a step toward addressing the corrupting influence of unlimited and undisclosed corporate spending on elections. The executive order under consideration would require government contractors to disclose their political contributions, as well as those of their senior management and affiliated political action committees.

“Rep. Issa has proven once again that he’s more interested in political theater than in actually cracking down on government waste,” said Michael Keegan, President of People For the American Way. “As the cofounder of the House Transparency Caucus, you’d think that Rep. Issa would want to shed light on the politics of granting government contracts, rather than protect the corporations that want to continue operating in the shadows. The Obama Administration is right to take this small step toward making our government cleaner and more transparent. Rep. Issa’s attack on the White House’s efforts shows how badly misplaced his priorities are.

“The federal government pays over $500 billion to contractors each year – taxpayers and voters have the right to make sure that the process is not tainted by political favoritism and that the federal resources are well spent,” Keegan continued. “Instead of fighting to protect the veil of secrecy around the political spending of government contractors, Rep. Issa should be investigating how to save taxpayer dollars by eliminating waste and abuse in government contracts.”

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