Government oversight
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| Abbreviation | POGO |
|---|---|
| Formation | February 1981 |
| Founder | Dina Rasor |
| Type | 501(c)(3) |
| Purpose | Government Watchdog |
| Location | |
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Director
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Danielle Brian |
| Website | http://www.pogo.org |
The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is a nonpartisan non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, that investigates and works to expose waste, fraud, abuse, and conflicts of interest in the U.S. federal government. According to its website, POGO works with whistleblowers and government insiders to identify wrongdoing in the federal government, and works with government officials to implement policy changes based on its investigations. POGO is led by executive director Danielle Brian.
The Project on Military Procurement, an arm of the National Taxpayers Legal Fund, was founded by Dina Rasor in February 1981. The Project's mission was to make the public aware of 'waste, fraud, and fat" in U.S. defense spending, according to Rasor. In the organization's early days, Rasor worked with whistleblowers to expose design flaws in the M1 Abrams tank, which had undergone a "shocking (cost) increase" in 1980, according to Rasor. The Project first gained widespread attention in the early 1980s for publishing reports on "outrageously overpriced military spending," including a $7,600 coffee maker and a $436 hammer.
The organization expanded its scope beyond military spending and changed its name to the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) in 1990. Danielle Brian joined POGO as its executive director in 1993.
Other watchdog organizations have folded into POGO over the years. In 2012, the Straus Military Reform Project of the Center for Defense Information joined POGO. In 2016, the Center for Effective Government (known as OMB Watch until 2013) folded and became part of POGO.
POGO currently has a staff of about 28 people, according to its website. Its board of directors includes investigative reporter David Burnham, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace senior fellow Sarah Chayes, Harper's Magazine editor Andrew Cockburn, former Republican congressman Mickey Edwards, lawyer Pamela Gilbert, political scientist Norman Ornstein, and investigative reporter Morton Mintz.
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