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A new memo from CTO Todd Park requires agencies to update their open government plans by June 1. The plans should include new efforts as well as progress reports on current initiatives.
OMB Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell sent a memo to agency leaders outlining six steps they must take to make administrative information about everything from grantees to contractors to anything that is collected for the purpose of carrying out the basic administration of a program, such as processing benefit applications or tracking services received, more available internally and externally.
The Office of Management and Budget's markup of the Senate's version of the bill changes language around requiring data standards and how the information should be published. Open government advocates are concerned about OMB's suggestions.
A new Government Accountability Office report says greater transparency in the way the General Services Administration handles its high-value leases would lead to better decision making and generate more cost savings.
Despite progress by some agencies in processing FOIA requests, Patrice McDermott of OpenTheGovernment.org says its difficult to measure how open the government really is.
Pundits may question whether Congress should have approved $804 billion in stimulus money via the Recovery Act of 2009. But many in government have come to realize that the independent agency charged with overseeing how that money was spent -- the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board -- has a lot to teach financial managers about ensuring transparency and rooting out waste in government spending.
The White House reaffirmed its commitment to an open and transparent government in President Barack Obama's second term. But government watchdog advocates say their frustration is growing with the slow and inconsistent progress agencies are making to make information more easily available.
The Environmental Protection Agency partnered with the Commerce Department and National Archives to launch a new online portal aimed at streamlining the Freedom of Information Act request process for both the public and federal agencies.
Walter Shaub Jr. said the STOCK Act could cause unintended consequences for federal employees' privacy and safety. Shaub said he favors revisions aimed at striking a balance between the need to protect personal information and the law's requirement to disclose stock trades.
While the Internet is a key priority for federal agencies to create economic prosperity, various rules set by regulatory agencies are hindering the fast-pace growth on the Web.
In its second report to the President, the Government Accountability and Transparency Board updates progress on several pilots to implement three broad-based recommendations. DoD and HHS are reviewing how best to standardize spending data. OMB is developing a Statement of Spending to provide more transparency into how agencies spend their funds.
President Barack Obama announced he will appoint Richard Ginman, the director of Defense Department procurement policy, to chair the Government Accountability and Transparency Board (GATB), a spending and transparency watchdog. Ginman has served as the director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (DPAP) for a little more than year.
A report by the Congressional Research Service finds it's not clear whether agencies are meeting performance goals set out a June 2011 executive order to make the federal government more efficient and accountable.
A law Congress passed in April to ban congressional members and federal workers from profiting on non-public information places unnecessary reporting burdens on senior executives and make them vulnerable to identity theft.