{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-peters-demand-action-from-agency-that-missed-conflicts-of-interest-deadline", "Grassley, Peters Demand Action from Agency that Missed Conflicts of Interest Deadline", "2024-09-24", "2024", "2024-09", "Republican", "Senate", "IA", "Chuck Grassley", "G000386", "www.grassley.senate.gov", "grassley", "https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) joined Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.) in demanding the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council implement their bipartisan 2022 law to prevent conflicts of interest in government contracting. The FAR Council failed to do so by the June 27, 2024, deadline.\n\n\u201cThe executive branch is slow walking its implementation of laws Congress passed to mitigate conflicts of interest. That\u2019s unacceptable. Taxpayers ought to rest assured their hard-earned dollars aren\u2019t going to contractors with potential conflicts. The FAR Council has had almost two years to make mandatory changes, which means it\u2019s high time Congress and the public see results,\u201d Grassley said of this bipartisan letter to the FAR Council.\n\nGrassley and his colleagues in their letter highlight conflict of interest cases, including one where a U.S.-based technology service simultaneously worked for a foreign adversary. Such circumstances put U.S. vulnerabilities at risk of falling into the wrong hands. The Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act aimed to address reported conflicts of interest between taxpayer-funded projects and contractors\u2019 other work. However, the FAR Council has neglected to institute congressional reforms.\n\nRead the senators\u2019 full letter HERE.\n\nBackground:\n\nAmong other provisions, the Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act, now law, requires:\n\nFederal agencies to identify potential conflicts early in contracting processes.\n\nFederal contractors to disclose preexisting business relationships with entities that may conflict with the work an agency has hired them to do.\n\nPrivate companies under contract with the U.S. government to disclose new potential business that opposes any ongoing services they\u2019re providing the American people.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-peters-demand-action-from-agency-that-missed-conflicts-of-interest-deadline"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7374540437012911, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}