Senators Highlight Progress in Increasing Transparency in Federal Spending

WASHINGTON – Today, Senators Tom Carper (D-Del.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) highlighted important progress made in implementing the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act), which increases transparency and public access to federal spending through the standardization of spending data across the federal government.

In a recent blog post, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced a significant milestone in the implementation of the law, which was passed last year. The Administration recently finalized 57 data standards meant to assist agencies with enhanced reporting requirements under the law. According to OMB and Treasury, these data standards provide a basis to improve the quality and consistency of data Americans can access on USAspending.gov, and as a result, help provide valuable, usable information on how federal dollars are spent.

“By increasing the availability, accuracy, and usefulness of federal spending information, we enhance government transparency, improve accountability, and reduce wasteful government spending,” Sen. Carper said. “That’s why the DATA Act is such a critical law. The DATA Act establishes government-wide financial data standards, which will improve the ability of policy makers and Americans to analyze how federal tax dollars are being spent and why. I am encouraged to see the Administration’s progress thus far and its commitment to working with stakeholders throughout the DATA Act’s implementation. I hope this important collaboration continues, and I look forward to working with the Administration, my colleagues in Congress, and others to make our federal spending transparent and accessible to everyone.”

“Finalizing the 57 standards for federal agencies to report spending data represents a significant milestone in the implementation of the bipartisan DATA Act. Across-the-board standards will allow for comprehensive data to be used in a substantive way to increase transparency and efficiency by enabling taxpayers and lawmakers to better track how every dollar is spent. Streamlining the fragmented reporting system was no small task, and I applaud the officials at OMB and Treasury for their hard work in developing these consistent standards,” Sen. Warner said. “Moving forward, I urge the Administration to continue to engage with stakeholders, both inside and outside the government, and to encourage agencies to fully adopt these standards. I look forward to continuing to work with the Administration to create a more data-driven and transparent government.”

“I’m pleased the Administration is working to make government more accountable by implementing the requirements of the DATA Act, which Senator Warner and I introduced and Congress passed unanimously,” Sen. Portman said. “The Act will improve the transparency of federal spending so hardworking taxpayers can get the details about how their money is being spent and Congress can identify and eliminate wasteful spending we don’t need.”

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