Matthew Rumsey | LaptrinhX

House Rules Committee to release data in XML format

House Rules Committee to release data in XML format

(Image credit: Sunlight Foundation) The House Rules Committee took a big step for open and accountable government today: House Rules Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, announced that the committee would publish the...

Influence Abroad: American lobbying at the European Union

Today we are excited to release an informative case study delving into American lobbying at the European Union. This is the first in a series of case studies to be released in the coming months as part of our Influence Abroad series. The Influence Abroad case studies will look at the various ways that major U.S. political players — both individuals and organizations — influence foreign governments. In the first case study we found...

Tell President Obama: It's time to shine a light on dark money

Tell President Obama: It's time to shine a light on dark money

(Photo credit: Official White House Photo/Flickr) A few weeks ago, 19 organizations started asking tough but fair questions about President Obama's legacy on campaign finance issues. Now, this opengov coalition is...

Join us to discuss open data for financial regulation on Wednesday

Join us to discuss open data for financial regulation on Wednesday

This Wednesday, Dec. 2, the Congressional Transparency Caucus — chaired by Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Mike Quigley, D-Ill. — will host a discussion focused on the need for better data in financial regulation....

Could DUNS soon be done? A first step toward more open entity IDs

Could DUNS soon be done? A first step toward more open entity IDs

(Image credit: Dun & Bradstreet) Last week, the Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA) and NASA proposed an amendment to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) that would have a...

Treasury's new USASpending.gov beta will evolve in the open

Treasury's new USASpending.gov beta will evolve in the open

A screenshot of the open beta website for USASpending.gov. Yesterday, the Department of Treasury launched an open beta website of the next generation of USASpending.gov, the main public portal for information about...

After Schock scandal, House curtails wasteful spending with disclosure and open data

After Schock scandal, House curtails wasteful spending with disclosure and open data

Aaron Schock. (Photo credit: House GOP/Flickr) This morning, the House Committee on Administration moved forward with new rules on how members of Congress spend taxpayer dollars on auto mileage, air travel, office...

The N.Y. state Senate's new website: More than just a new paint job

The N.Y. state Senate's new website: More than just a new paint job

A screenshot of the updated New York state Senate website. The New York state Senate rolled out a new website last week that aims to please two of that institution's most important constituents — members of the...

Is the U.S. living up to open government commitments?

Is the U.S. living up to open government commitments?

(Photo credit: Tim Evanson/Flickr) Many of the federal government's commitments on open government and civil society are not being met, according to a new progress report on the Obama administration's second Open...

The House opens up to open source

The House opens up to open source

(Photo credit: Timothy Appnel/Flickr) Traditionally, members of the House of Representatives have been presented with a limited plate of options when choosing technology to run their offices and manage their web...

Growing chorus calling for CRS reports to be open to the public

Growing chorus calling for CRS reports to be open to the public

The Sunlight Foundation, along with a range of allies, have been pushing for consistent public access to Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports for years. Now, some powerful voices have joined the chorus....

Senate rejects attempt to weaken FOIA — for now

Senate rejects attempt to weaken FOIA — for now

Mitch McConnell's attempt to weaken FOIA was thwarted — for now. (Photo credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr) The Senate debate over the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is always controversial — in part because...

Bennet looks to ban lobbyist bundlers, close the 20 percent loophole and more

Bennet looks to ban lobbyist bundlers, close the 20 percent loophole and more

Sen. Michael Bennet's new bill looks to shine a light on so-called "shadow lobbying." (Photo credit: Office of Michael Bennet/Wikimedia Commons) This week, Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., introduced the...

Get to the gyrocopter: Congress should follow Doug Hughes' lead and embrace campaign finance reforms

Get to the gyrocopter: Congress should follow Doug Hughes' lead and embrace campaign finance reforms

A gyrocopter, similar to what Doug Hughes used to land on the Capitol lawn. (Photo credit: Paul Campbell/Flickr) Doug Hughes, the 61-year-old postal worker who landed his gyrocopter on the Capitol lawn to protest...

New bipartisan bill promises better financial data

New bipartisan bill promises better financial data

Darrell Issa. (Photo credit: Darrell Issa/Flickr) Earlier this afternoon, Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., Jared Polis, D-Colo., and Mike Quigley, D-Ill., announced the Financial Transparency Act of 2015. The bipartisan...

Stories from our surveillance transparency panel

Stories from our surveillance transparency panel

Panelists discuss surveillance transparency at a discussion hosted by the Sunlight Foundation's Advisory Committee on Transparency. From left: Sean Vitka, Mieke Eoyang, Patrick Toomey, Fritz Schwarz and Bob Litt. On...

House Oversight Committee is looking for FOIA fails

House Oversight Committee is looking for FOIA fails

Have a FOIA fail story of your own? Let the House Oversight Committee know about it. (Image credit: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform) Last week, the Sunlight Foundation, along with a number of other...

Recent court decision supports better open data on America's nonprofits

Recent court decision supports better open data on America's nonprofits

The IRS. (Photo credit: David Boeke/Flickr) Recently, Carl Malamud and his site public.resource.org scored a victory in a long-running effort to give the public better access to data on America’s nonprofits. The...

[Event] Who watches the watchers: How much surveillance transparency is enough?

America is reeling over the apparent disconnect between what the public believes the intelligence community is doing, what the intelligence community believes it is authorized to do — and what the intelligence...

Which federal agencies haven't released public indexes of their data?

Which federal agencies haven't released public indexes of their data?

(Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons) It’s been about a month and a half since the Office of Management and Budget responded to a Sunlight Foundation FOIA request by releasing agency Enterprise Data Inventories (EDIs)....

Obama administration agrees with Sunlight: Agencies should disclose what data they keep private

Obama administration agrees with Sunlight: Agencies should disclose what data they keep private

President Barack Obama talks with OMB Director Shaun Donovan. (Photo credit: Official White House photo) Last week, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) posted updated guidance to the Project Open Data Github...

We need your help today to bolster Senate e-filing

We need your help today to bolster Senate e-filing

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., one of the biggest proponents of Senate e-filing. (Photo credit: Sunlight Foundation) Today, the U.S. Senate can take a step towards changing a costly and opaque practice while joining their...

It's Sunshine Week, and FOIA needs your help!

It's Sunshine Week, and FOIA needs your help!

Click here to call or tweet your members of Congress. Tell them to support efforts to #reformFOIA today! It’s Sunshine Week in the U.S., and already activists are fanning out across the country to celebrate open...

After Sunlight FOIA, comprehensive data indexes arrive on Data.gov

After Sunlight FOIA, comprehensive data indexes arrive on Data.gov

Updated: 11:00 am 3/6/2015 Over a year ago, in December 2013, the Sunlight Foundation started down a path in search of agencies' internal indexes of their data holdings, also known as "enterprise data...

Senate launches bipartisan Whistleblower Protection Caucus

Senate launches bipartisan Whistleblower Protection Caucus

(Image credit: cool revolution/Flickr) A bipartisan group of Senators came together yesterday to launch the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus. Led by Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the...