The White House won't issue a timetable for Barack Obama's draft executive order. Interest groups push Obama on order

Public interest groups are growing increasingly frustrated with the Obama administration’s indecision regarding a draft executive order that, as conceived, would force government contractors to reveal new details about their politicking.

And the groups’ message to the administration is clear: Hurry up, particularly with dozens of corporations, unions and special interest groups primed to blitz Congress’s debt-slashing supercommittee with numerous advertisements, the funding for which won’t necessarily be a matter of public record.


“If he doesn’t have the guts to do it this year, I don’t see why he’s going to have the guts to do it next year. It’s got to be in the next few weeks,” said Craig Holman, Public Citizen’s government affairs lobbyist.

“Given the enormous stakes, the more information the better on the way the decisions being made by the supercommittee are being influenced,” said Fred Wertheimer of campaign finance reform group Democracy 21.

Added Meredith McGehee, the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center’s policy director: “It’s been a deafening silence from the administration. I’ve been pretty mystified by the whole experience. Time for a decision.”

The White House indicated that the executive order mandating enhanced political activity disclosure remains a possibility, although a spokesman for President Barack Obama declined to offer a timetable for its issuance – or death.

“The draft executive order is still undergoing review,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said, echoing past statements on the matter. “But broadly speaking, the president is committed to improving our federal contracting system, making it more transparent and more accountable.”

Obama’s draft executive order, which has languished in political limbo since being leaked in April, would have the practical effect of requiring contractors to disclose whether they’re donating money to non-profit organizations that in turn promote or oppose political candidates through broadcast and print advertising. Such non-profit groups are generally organized under the Internal Revenue Service's 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(6) codes and do not have to disclose their donors.

Executive order supporters hail it as a step – albeit imperfect — toward unearthing tens of millions of dollars in so-called “secret money” that fueled advertisements both promoting and slamming federal political candidates last cycle. The order would not require corporations that don’t contract with the government to reveal whether they’re donating money to nonprofit groups that play politics.

Opponents of the order argue that it would gravely politicize the government contracting process, opening companies up to retribution from presidential administrations and compromising their ability to compete.

Schultz, the White House spokesman, says the ideal solution to enhancing campaign finance transparency isn’t an executive order, but for Congress “to pass a full disclosure law.”

At this juncture, however, it appears unlikely that Congress has an appetite for doing anything of the sort.

To wit: Both houses of Congress have introduced legislation with the intended effect of blocking Obama’s executive order on disclosure, providing he issues it. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), meanwhile, led a joint hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and House Small Business Committee entitled “Politicizing Procurement: Will President Obama's Proposal Curb Free Speech and Hurt Small Business?”

And last year, a Democratic-controlled Congress failed to pass the Disclose Act, which would have in part required corporations, unions and other special interests to reveal significantly more information about their political finances.

That means an executive order may indeed be Obama’s best shot during the 2012 election cycle to further his oft-stated goal of increasing political contribution transparency following the Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

The court’s decision allowed corporations, unions and certain nonprofit groups to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money on election-related communications in direct support of or opposition to political candidates. And they may do so whenever they want, using effectively whatever messages they want.

Some opponents of the proposed executive order acknowledge they expect Obama to issue it, particularly with so many corporations expected to unleash political firepower on the congressional supercommittee, which is tasked with proposing at least $1.2 trillion in mandatory spending cuts during the next 10 years.

“The order is something the president can do at a very low cost to himself. I see no reason to think it’s dead, and there’s every reason to think this is still very much under consideration,” said Brad Smith, co-founder of the Center for Competitive Politics and a former Federal Election Commission commissioner.

But expect a spirited fight if he does issue the order.

“We could consider all of our options, including legal options,” Smith said. “It’s going to be a very serious challenge if he does.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is organized as a 501(c)(6) business association and does not have to disclose its donors, argued that the draft executive order is fundamentally unfair because it does not impose any disclosure requirements on federal labor unions or organizations that apply for federal grants or assistance. The Chamber, along with 155 other business organizations, petitioned Congress in June to block Obama’s order.

“As was the case with the DISCLOSE Act that was rejected by a Democratic-controlled Congress, the effort exempts known political supporters of this administration,” Chamber spokeswoman Blair Latoff said. “The obvious danger of this is that it will lead prospective businessmen and businesswomen to a choice no American should ever be forced to make: ‘Do I support the party in power in the hopes I can continue my livelihood, or do I support the candidate I believe will do the best job?’ … We hope Executive Order will never see the light of day.”

The Chamber may very well get its wish, predicted Ellen Miller, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation, which supports the executive order but is dubious of the president’s commitment to it.

Obama, Miller said, appears “afraid of making organizations and interests that are financing his campaign angry at him.”

If he does issue it, “I’d be shocked and pleased,” she said.