New names, new roles on Senate oversight panel

With each new Congress comes a new slate of leaders who will be looking into your agency's operations. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has a few new subcommittee chairmen and subcommittees with new focuses.

Committee Chairman Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) announced the new subcommittees Feb. 13.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) is still chairwoman of the subcommittee that studies procurement problems. But her subcommittee has expanded its focus. The ad hoc Contracting Oversight Subcommittee, as it was previously known, is now the Financial and Contracting Oversight Subcommittee. She will be delving into agencies' efforts to improve how they manage significant acquisitions. The jurisdiction of McCaskill's subcommittee also encompasses programs to improve financial transparency, expenditure tracking and efforts to prevent and recoup improper payments across the federal government.

"I’m putting every federal agency on notice—any employee or contractor who wastes taxpayer money, or acts inappropriately on the taxpayer dime, will have this committee to answer to," said McCaskill, former prosecutor and state auditor.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is the subcommittee's ranking member.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) will chair the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He will be studying how efficiently the government operates and complies with regulations, which remains the same as the previous Congress. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is the ranking member.

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) will chair the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Federal Programs and the Federal Workforce Subcommittee. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) is the ranking member.

Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) will chair the Emergency Management, Intergovernmental Affairs, and the District of Columbia Subcommittee. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is the ranking member.