Former NIH Director Touts Benefits of Open Federal Science

Former National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Harold Varmus touts the benefits of open science in a new video released for Open Access Week (Oct. 18-24, 2010).

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U.S. Scores Poorly on Transparency of Foreign Aid Spending

A new comparative study of development aid finds the U.S. among the least transparent of the world's donors.

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On Transparent Stewardship of Natural Resources, U.S. is #11

A new study of natural resource transparency in 41 countries finds the U.S. among the top countries but not leading the pack. Brazil and Norway scored the highest marks, while countries such as Russia, Colombia, and Kazakhstan also ranked higher than the U.S.

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Congress Tries to Make Bureaucrats Communicate More Clearly

Today, the Senate passed H.R. 946, the Plain Writing Act of 2010. The bill requires agencies to use plain writing when communicating with the public. The House passed the bill in March.

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Congress “Fixes” SEC Secrecy

Following last week’s hearing in the House Financial Services Committee and action by the Senate Judiciary Committee on the broad and unnecessary Freedom of Information Act exemption for the Securities and Exchange Commission, Congress moved quickly to approve legislation that will fix the controversial provisions.

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Congress Looks to Reign in SECrecy

Yesterday, both the Senate and House addressed Section 929I of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which granted the Security Exchange Commission (SEC) a very broad exemption to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation that would limit the exemption. Almost simultaneously, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing to explore the issue of the need for such a broad exemption.

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Golden Opportunity for Transparency at UN Development Summit

Yesterday, OMB Watch delivered a letter to President Obama calling for greater transparency in U.S. foreign aid. The letter asks the U.S. government to publicly commit to aid transparency at next week's UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

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Why Doesn't Federal Spending Add Up?

A new report by the Sunlight Foundation found widespread errors in USASpending.gov data.

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Congress Fails Transparency for Official Vehicles, Websites

Recent reports highlight Congressional weakness on two matters of routine transparency: official vehicles and website design.

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Waging War via PowerPoint

The NATO command in Afghanistan last week fired a staff officer for publicly criticizing the military's use of Microsoft's presentation software PowerPoint.

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