Transparency Not Found: White House scraps public spending database of appropriations

[essentialsaltes]

The White House budget office has taken down its website where approvals of federal funding provided in appropriations laws are statutorily required to be posted for public viewing, a move likely to face major blowback from members of Congress and government watchdogs.

As of Monday morning, the Office of Management and Budget was no longer making “apportionments” of previously enacted appropriations available on the website it set up for that purpose after Congress mandated the requirement starting in 2022**. The site now simply says: “Page not found.”

“This is in direct violation of federal law,” said Faith Williams, director of the effective and accountable government program at the Project on Government Oversight, known as POGO. “The apportionments database is a critical tool for Congress and the public to hold the executive branch accountable for its spending.”

Earlier this year, CQ Roll Call and later ProPublica used public apportionments data to report on previously enacted funding being freed up for the U.S. DOGE Service — more popularly known as the Department of Government Efficiency.

[**What instigated the need for this new requirement? Trump 1.0's withholding of appropriated Ukraine aid.]

 

[Pommer]

The White House budget office has taken down its website where approvals of federal funding provided in appropriations laws are statutorily required to be posted for public viewing, a move likely to face major blowback from members of Congress and government watchdogs.

As of Monday morning, the Office of Management and Budget was no longer making “apportionments” of previously enacted appropriations available on the website it set up for that purpose after Congress mandated the requirement starting in 2022**. The site now simply says: “Page not found.”

“This is in direct violation of federal law,” said Faith Williams, director of the effective and accountable government program at the Project on Government Oversight, known as POGO. “The apportionments database is a critical tool for Congress and the public to hold the executive branch accountable for its spending.”

Earlier this year, CQ Roll Call and later ProPublica used public apportionments data to report on previously enacted funding being freed up for the U.S. DOGE Service — more popularly known as the Department of Government Efficiency.

[**What instigated the need for this new requirement? Trump 1.0's withholding of appropriated Ukraine aid.]

Transparency=opacity now.

 

[The IbanezerScrooge]

Transparency=opacity now.

legal = illegal
illegal = legal
right = wrong
wrong = right
etc.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Trump Administration Sued for Hiding Federal Spending Data from Public​

Lawsuit says Trump administration broke the law by taking down spending transparency site.​

“There was no explanation. It just went dark,” said the lawsuit, filed by the nonprofit Protect Democracy Project in federal court in Washington, D.C.

“Congress mandated prompt transparency for apportionments to prevent abuses of power and strengthen Congress’s and the public’s oversight of the spending process,” the lawsuit states. “Absent this transparency, the president and OMB may abuse their authority… without public or congressional scrutiny or accountability.”

may?

 

[Say it aint so]

Trump Administration Sued for Hiding Federal Spending Data from Public​

Lawsuit says Trump administration broke the law by taking down spending transparency site.​

“There was no explanation. It just went dark,” said the lawsuit, filed by the nonprofit Protect Democracy Project in federal court in Washington, D.C.

“Congress mandated prompt transparency for apportionments to prevent abuses of power and strengthen Congress’s and the public’s oversight of the spending process,” the lawsuit states. “Absent this transparency, the president and OMB may abuse their authority… without public or congressional scrutiny or accountability.”

may?

They have been scrubbing a lot more than just spending websites.

 

[essentialsaltes]

'Stop violating the law!': Federal judge blasts Trump admin's 'extravagant and unsupported theory' for hiding spending decisions from the public​

 

[Desk trauma]

'Stop violating the law!': Federal judge blasts Trump admin's 'extravagant and unsupported theory' for hiding spending decisions from the public​

<liarliar.legaladvice.gif>

 

[essentialsaltes]

'Stop violating the law!': Federal judge blasts Trump admin's 'extravagant and unsupported theory' for hiding spending decisions from the public​

Appeals court rules Trump clamp-down on spending data defies Congress’ authority​

In an order issued Saturday evening, the three-judge D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel voted unanimously to give the administration until Friday to put the data back online.

Two of the three appeals judges assigned to the matter also signed onto a forceful opinion declaring that the administration’s bid to conceal the data was an affront to Congress’ authority over government spending, one that threatened the separation of powers and defied centuries of evidence that public disclosure is necessary for the public good.

“No court would allow a losing party to defy its judgment. No President would allow a usurper to command our armed forces,” Judge Karen Henderson, a George H.W. Bush appointee, wrote in support of the decision to deny the Trump administration’s request to keep the data under wraps while litigation over the issue goes forward. “And no Congress should be made to wait while the Executive intrudes on its plenary power over appropriations.”

Authoritarian.

 

[DaisyDay]

Congress has abdicated its authority to the president while too much of the Supreme Court is in the pockets of the oligarchs.