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Living Donation Discussion and News => Living Donation in the News => Topic started by: Clark on May 13, 2026, 06:17:04 PM

Title: Investigating the investigators: Congressional oversight and state capacity
Post by: Clark on May 13, 2026, 06:17:04 PM
https://www.niskanencenter.org/investigating-the-investigators-congressional-oversight-and-state-capacity/ (https://www.niskanencenter.org/investigating-the-investigators-congressional-oversight-and-state-capacity/)

Investigating the investigators: Congressional oversight and state capacity
Justin Cohen (https://www.niskanencenter.org/author/jcohen/)


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What should the future of congressional oversight look like? One good model is the bipartisan coalition of Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Todd Young (R-IN), and Ben Cardin (D-MD), who in 2020 investigated (https://levin-center.org/levin-center-at-work/awards/carl-levin-effective-oversight-award/2023-u-s-senators-chuck-grassley-r-ia-ron-wyden-d-or-todd-young-r-in-and-ben-cardin-d-md/) the government's Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) program, which a single federal contractor, United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), had managed for 40 years. From numerous hearings and reports, the group of senators determined that UNOS's management had led to significant failures, including the discarding of organs that were viable for transplants.
The group's final report  (https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/UNOS%20Hearing)noted that experts estimated its recommendations to improve OPTN — chiefly, opening OPTN to more contractor competition — would allow 28,000 more transplants each year and save up to $40 billion over the next decade. The senators championed the Securing the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Act (H.R.2544 (https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/2544)), which incorporated many of their recommendations when President Joseph R. Biden signed it into law in 2023.
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