Boyle Calls on Trump Admin to Fully Restore Public Access to Budget Data

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Congressman Brendan F. Boyle (PA-02), Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee, released the following statement after the Trump administration was forced to restore an online database of apportionments by a federal court, but has failed to publish all apportionments as required by the court. These legally binding plans issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) govern how federal agencies spend funds appropriated by Congress, and by law must be published online.

“The American people deserve to know exactly how their money is being spent, which is why Democrats and Republicans ensured the White House is required by law to publish these critical budget records. It is long past time for Russell Vought and President Trump to permanently abandon their blatantly illegal attempt to censor this information.

Vought and Trump must immediately restore the full budget data and show the public what they have been doing with our tax dollars. I will not stop fighting to defend critical investments and protect American families from the Trump administration’s corruption.”

Background:

• The White House is legally required to maintain a public database of all apportionments (PL 117-103 as amended by PL 117-328). This requirement was originally sponsored by the then Democratic Chair of the House Budget Committee as a provision in his Congressional Power of the Purse Act (H.R. 6628, 116th Congress).

• These reforms improved public oversight and strengthened Congress’s power of the purse following the first Trump administration’s illegal withholding of funds.

• Public access to apportionment information is a bipartisan desire. Last June, Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee suggested making the OMB apportionment site more user friendly, improving the public's access to the information.

• Despite dubious claims from the White House that this information is being withheld to protect national security, current law already allows the apportionment database to exclude classified material. Also, the White House’s assertion that preliminary information was being disclosed is simply false. The law is clear: once an apportionment is approved by OMB, it must be posted to the database within two days.

• The overarching purpose of the apportionment process is to prevent deficiencies — i.e., to make sure agencies use time-limited appropriations at an appropriate pace (so that, for example, a program does not run out of money before the fiscal year is over) and use appropriations available for an indefinite time period effectively and economically.  

• Apportionments generally divide amounts by specific time period or among projects or activities. They may contain footnotes, which provide additional direction to agencies and are also legally binding. After funding has been apportioned, agencies decide how to further allocate it, provided that such decisions are consistent with the apportionment and enacted law.

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