Open government: Whistleblowers win challenge to law protecting them

The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld the False Claims Act (FCA) that allows whistleblowers to bring claims for the government to recover damages for fraud committed by government contractors. The American Civil Liberties Union, OMB Watch and the Government Accountability Project sued under the First Amendment and the public’s right to know [...]

Watchdog finds progress in federal agency compliance with FOIA

An analysis by OMB Watch shows that the Obama administration is gaining some traction in implementing procedures to comply with the Freedom of Information Act. -db From a press release by OMB Watch, March 16, 2011. OMB Watch Analysis Finds Obama Administration Slowly Rebuilding Government’s FOIA Performance WASHINGTON, March 16, 2011—Today, OMB Watch released an [...]

Presidential order seeks uniformity in handling unclassified information

President Barack Obama ordered government agencies to conduct more open and uniform practices in handling unclassified data subject to exemptions from full exclosure. -db The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press November 5, 2010 By Stephen Miller President Barack Obama released an executive order Thursday calling for a more open and uniform approach to [...]

Federal transparency: Changes in administration raise questions

Transparency advocates are wondering if recent changes in Obama administration management mean that Obama is stepping back from his commitment to open government. -db NextGov August 16, 2010 By Aliya Sternstein As the Obama administration gently pushes agencies to follow their transparency plans, recent changes in key management positions at the White House have watchdog groups [...]

Watchdog group: Lack of transparency damages ability to deal with oil spill disaster

OMB Watch, a nonprofit devoted to promoting government transparency and accountability, says that lack of information from the government and BP has hampered the public’s ability to deal with the spill. In particular, BP has not revealed the chemical makeup of the dispersants so that scientists and others can determine their possible long term consequences. -db [...]

Transparency survey ranks NASA on top and the Department of Justice on the bottom

An independent audit of the open government plans of  federal government agencies showed that NASA, HUD and EPA had performed well and DOJ and OMB poorly. The performance of the Office of Management and Budget disappointed the auditors since the agency is spearheading Obama’s transparency initiative. -db OMB Watch Press Release May 3, 2010 WASHINGTON, [...]

Congress acts to cast federal transparency initiatives in cement

A bipartisan move is afoot to make Obama’s transparency initiatives permanent. -db NextGov March 18, 2010 By Aliya Sternstein Lawmakers from both parties are pursuing efforts that would require agencies to post public information online by default, moves that would preserve for posterity elements of the Obama administration’s open government agenda. Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., [...]

Staffing at federal agencies inadequate to deliver on Recovery Act funding

OMB Watch says a report from the groups charged with Recover Act oversight reveals that federal agencies are drastically overworked and under pressure to spend stimulus funds rapidly. The report does not touch on how the agencies are doing to make their work transparent, but OMB Watch says the problem of understaffing should be addressed [...]

Federal government agencies: Transparency watch group assesses open data web pages

OMB Watch designated “leaders and laggards” after it conducted a study of government web pages designed to give citizens access to crucial information. -db OMB Watch February 23, 2010 Complying with requirements of the Open Government Directive (OGD), federal agencies launched transparency pages on their websites Feb. 6. The content and functionality of the pages [...]

Context essential in helping public understand federal stimulus data

A recent study by the CGI Initiative for Collaborative Government says that the government needs to build a better context for the data on spending from the  federal stimulus package. As it stands the public could seize on isolated information and draw the wrong conclusions. The Obama administration says it is trying to provide more [...]

States responding to federal transparency initiatives with parallel efforts

Since President Barack Obama pledged more openness in government, states have been opening records to the public, of stimulus spending and beyond, using online tools to provide a broad range of data. -DB OMB Watch December 8, 2009 President Barack Obama’s Jan. 21 inaugural promise to lead the most transparent administration in history has had [...]

Open government group launches new database to improve access to stimulus data

OMB Watch has released a beta version of a new data base on FedSpending.org to improve access and searchability of stimulus data. -DB OMB Watch Press Release December 3, 2009 WASHINGTON, D.C. – OMB Watch released a beta version of a new database on FedSpending.org that gives the public improved access to and searchability of [...]

Open government group publishes information about risks to public health from chemical facilities

OMB Watch posted updated information on the risks of over 140 dangerous chemicals from facilities nationwide. The information can be found on the website of the Right-to-Know Network. -DB OMB Watch Press Release October 29, 2009 WASHINGTON, D.C. — OMB Watch today posted updated information about the risks of serious public harm posed by thousands [...]

OMB Watch posts details of risks posed by U.S. chemical facilities

A government watchdog agency, OMB Watch, has posted updated risks to public health of thousands of chemical facilities allowing the public information needed to protect families and communities. The government has been derelict in providing the information. -DB OMB Watch Press Release October 29, 2009 WASHINGTON, D.C.—OMB Watch today posted updated information about the risks [...]

Obama to announce new policy on state secrets

The Obama administration is expected to make it harder for the government to invoke a “state secrets” claim when asked about such activities as rendition, wiretaps and treatment of terrorist suspects. -DB The Washington Post September 23, 2009 By Carrie Johnson The Obama administration will announce a new policy Wednesday making it much more difficult [...]

Groups abound to monitor recovery spending

Besides the government agencies formed to audit recovery spending, there has been a number of other groups set up to help the public track the money and conduct oversight. -DB The Presidential Transition A Weblog of the IBM Center for the Business of Government Commentary August 12, 2009 By John Kamensky The Recovery Act created a [...]