Gianforte Continues Efforts to Clean up Washington

Press Release

Congressman Greg Gianforte released the following statement following passage of several bills this week to clean up Washington:

"Washington is broken and needs to be fixed," Gianforte said. "The House this week took action to bring greater accountability and transparency to the federal government."

"One bill would end the practice used by the Obama administration of using federal settlement funds as a payday for liberal special interest groups instead of dedicating the monies to the victims or the U.S. Treasury. Another bill," Gianforte continued, "will increase transparency by putting an end to "sue and settle' practices that have been abused by federal regulators."

"The measures we passed this week are promising steps to clean up Washington for the American people," Gianforte said.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a series of bills this week to bring greater accountability to Washington.

The Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2017 (H.R. 732) permanently bars federal agencies from requiring defendants to donate money to outside groups as part of settlement agreements. The bipartisan bill further requires that settlement funds be paid directly to the victims or to the U.S. Treasury. The Obama administration's Department of Justice directed nearly a billion dollars in settlement funds to activist groups, including ACORN.

The Sunshine for Regulations and Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2017 (H.R. 469) ends the "sue and settle" practice to secretly create regulatory mandates. The practice allowed federal bureaucrats, including those at the EPA and Fish and Wildlife Service, to negotiate privately with serial litigants and then accept a consent decree which compels a federal agency to undertake an action. The bill requires any proposed consent decree be publicly posted and allow other parties to intervene before it goes into effect.

Other measures to bring greater accountability and transparency to the federal government, which passed the House this week, include the Congressional Subpoena Compliance and Enforcement Act of 2017 (H.R. 4010) and the DHS Accountability Enhancement Act (H.R. 4038).

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