oversight

n.

1. An unintentional omission or mistake.
2. Watchful care or management; supervision.

noun

An act or instance of neglecting: disregard, neglect, slight. See care for/neglect, concern/unconcern.

n

Definition: care, supervision
Antonyms: ignorance, neglect

n

Definition: failure, omission
Antonyms: attention, care, recollection, remembrance, success

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In general usage, oversight usually means something that has been forgotten or overlooked. But in Congress it means just the opposite. When Congress performs its oversight functions, it is supervising, or looking over, the business of executive branch departments. The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 assigned to each committee or subcommittee with jurisdiction over legislation relating to a particular agency, or with the power to appropriate its funds, the power to exercise “continuous watchfulness” over that agency. Through their oversight functions, congressional committees monitor how well agencies are administering the laws and if they are spending federal money properly. The General Accounting Office conducts regular audits of agency finances. Committees also call agency heads to testify during oversight hearings. By contrast to investigations, which are usually special hearings concerned with a single issue or event, oversight is a regular, year-to-year, ongoing procedure. Consequently, Congress's oversight functions get less attention from the media than do splashier investigations. (1946 and 1970)

See also Investigations, congressional; Legislative Reorganization Acts

Sources

• Walter J. Oleszek, “Legislative Oversight,” in Congressional Procedures and Policy Process (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 1989).
• Randall B. Ripley, Congress: Process and Policy (New York: Norton, 1988)

IN BRIEF: A careless error.

Due to a clerical oversight, he suddenly had an extra thousand dollars in his bank account.

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - uagtsomhed, forsømmelse, forglemmelse, opsyn

Nederlands (Dutch)
vergissing, onoplettendheid, fout

Français (French)
n. - erreur, négligence

Deutsch (German)
n. - Irrtum, Versehen, Aufsicht

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - αμέλημα, παράλειψη, παράβλεψη, απροσεξία, παραδρομή, επίβλεψη

Italiano (Italian)
svista, sbadataggine

Português (Portuguese)
n. - engano (m), descuido (m), omissão (f), fiscalização (f)

Русский (Russian)
надзор, оплошность

Español (Spanish)
n. - error, inadvertencia, descuido

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - förbiseende, ouppmärksamhet, uppsikt, tillsyn

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
勘漏, 失败, 失察

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 勘漏, 失敗, 失察

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 간과, 감시, 단속

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 見落とし, 手落ち, 監視

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) إغفال, مراقبه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮טעות מתוך רשלנות, אי שימת לב, פיקוח, השגחה, שכחה, השמטה‬

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