ProPublica's Christopher Flavelle makes an interesting observation about Recovery Act spending to date:

The departments of State, Agriculture and Energy have each committed less than a quarter of their stimulus money, seven months after the Recovery Act was passed. By comparison, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has committed over 70 percent of its stimulus dollars; and the Department of Justice, 91 percent.

Is the difference a function of the agencies’ different mandates, or varying levels of administrative prowess?

Given ProPublica's typically estimable coverage of stimulus spending, I doubt their lack of answers is due to lack of effort. However, I think an important corollary to their query is: Why are Recovery Act program spending guidelines and restrictions not plainly noted on either Recovery.gov or the agencies' Recovery sites?

Image by Flickr user Patrick Q used under a Creative Commons license.