Report: 65% of federal grant information on USASpending.gov is inaccurate

SUBCOMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGY, INFORMATION POLICY, INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS AND PROCUREMENT REFORM

THE HONORABLE JAMES LANKFORD, CHAIRMAN

Report: 65% of federal grant information on USASpending.gov is inaccurate

Oversight Subcommittee: Is this really improving transparency in government?

WASHINGTON, D.C.– On Friday, a House Oversight subcommittee will examine open government and transparency initiatives, including the Federal Government’s main spending database portal, USASpending.gov. A report by the non-partisan Sunlight Foundation found the database, once hailed as “Google for government,” is accurate only 35% of the time when it comes to federal grant information. Sunlight conducted its analysis by comparing data on USASpending.gov to corresponding information in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA), a comprehensive federal catalog of spending on grants (no corresponding information on contracts is available). Questions remain as to whether or not other open government efforts are doing better.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Technology and Information Policy will seek answers to these questions at their hearing from Administration witnesses, including two agency Chief Information Officers, and academic experts.

USASpending.gov was created by the Federal Funding Transparency and Accountability Act, sponsored by then-Senator Obama in 2006. On his first full day in office, President Obama issued a memo to the heads of all departments and agencies calling for “an unprecedented level of openness” and the establishment of “a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration.”

A copy of the Sunlight Foundation’s report can be obtained at http://sunlightfoundation.com/clearspending/. Hearing details are below. Testimony from the hearing, as well as live-streaming video, will be available at https://oversight.house.gov.

Hearing Advisory

Date: Friday, March 11th, 2011

Start Time: 10:00 a.m.

Location: 2154 Rayburn House Office Building

Title: Transparency through Technology: Evaluating Federal Open-Government Efforts

Witnesses

Panel One

Dr. Danny Harris

Chief Information Officer, Department of Education

Mr. Chris Smith

Chief Information Officer, Department of Agriculture

Ms. Ellen Miller

Co-Founder and Executive Director, Sunlight Foundation

Mr. Jerry Brito

Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Panel Two

The Honorable Daniel Werfel

Controller, Office of Federal Financial Management, Office of Management and Budget

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