Trump administration is killing its open data portal
lterrat's bookmarks 2017-04-15
Summary:
"Reversing yet another Obama-era practice, the Trump administration announced on Friday that it will not only be keeping its visitor logs secret for five years after Trump leaves office, but will be shuttering the Open.gov portal. This is where the previous administration posted visitor logs, financial disclosures and data on White House staff.
Officials argue that the portal had become redundant and closing it would save $70,000 over the next three years. The administration had 'broken new ground in ensuring our government is both ethical and accessible to the American people,' according to officials, because the White House had issued more press passes and prohibited lobbyists from getting federal positions. The data from open.gov will be rolled over into the open.whitehouse.gov portal in the coming months.
The move was immediately condemned by transparency advocates. 'By announcing a return to secrecy for White House visitor logs, the Trump administration has continued to evade public accountability and transparency for the highest office,' John Wonderlich, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation said in a statement. 'While this action is no surprise for a President whose tax returns remain secret, who has proclaimed the free press the enemy of the American people, and who has refused to fully divest from his businesses, the White House's failure to disclose visitor logs demonstrates again that American leadership on open government will not come from this Presidency.'"