Research

President Obama likes to boast that he runs the most transparent administration in history but whether it’s shielding union cronies, crafting health care reform in secret or stemming waste and fraud in the stimulus program you’ll find that his actions fall far short of his promises. Now that list of shortcomings includes failing to accurately maintain USAspending.gov, which tracks government spending on federal contracts. The website was conceived by then-Senator Obama and is currently maintained by his own Office of Management and Budget but an audit of its records by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) turned up several problems:

After reviewing 100 federal contracts, the GAO also found "widespread inconsistencies" in what appeared on the website and what was contained in records provided by the agencies. Auditors, for example, found discrepancies in where the work took place and the purpose of the contracts.

When he was a senator, Obama hailed the website as a victory for open government but now that it is shining a light on his presidency, his commitment to transparency has curiously waned.