US Government Has Only Met Half Of Its Transparency Committments

Two years ago, the United States said it would take part in an international government transparency agreement. An independent auditor recently found that the U.S. has only met half of its transparency commitments.

In a March report, the White House claimed that the government had completed 24 of its 26 original commitments to the Open Government Partnership.

The independent auditor claims that the White House has made “minimal progress” when it comes to declassifying benign national security records or using new technology to make it easier for people to request documents under the Freedom of Information Act.

The White House says it met those goals because of a presidential order to establish a National Declassification Center and several new websites that receive and manage FOIA requests. The independent auditor says those programs have completely failed and have therefore not made government actions more transparent to U.S. citizens.

In part of the assessment, former Clinton administration official and Harvard Kennedy School of Government lecturer Elaine Kamarck, writes:

“The White House was unable to comment on a draft version of the assessment because it was delivered during the partial government shutdown.”

A draft version of the assessment was delivered during the partial government shutdown, which led to government silence upon its release.

The United States is a founding member of the International Open Government Partnership, which launched in 2011. The OGP is a voluntary program made up of 60 nations that have pledged their commitment to creating a more transparent form of government.

The United States, as part of its OGP agreement, also said it would be more open about its foreign aid spending, forcing more transparency on U.S.-based companies, and ensuring that federal agencies work to create their own open government plans.

While the United States government has only accomplished several of its transparency promises, those goals have proven effective. For example, government whistleblowers are given more protection and the We the People petition website has taken off with millions of signatures collected for various public causes.

The White House has not responded in full to the independent audit of its transparency issues.