Appeals Court Says Trump Admin Must Restore Federal Spending Database
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) must comply with a court order requiring it to restore an online database of information about how it directs agencies to spend taxpayer money. Although OMB is required by law to make the information publicly available, it removed the database from public access in March.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group and CREW, sued OMB and its Director Russell Vought in April over the removal of the database. In July, a district court ordered OMB to restore the database, stating that “the law is clear” and that OMB is “required to stop violating the law!”
OMB asked the United States Court of Appeals to put the order on hold while it appealed. Today, the court of appeals denied that request, explaining that the administration’s argument for failing to comply with the law “fails on constitutional first principles,” and that if the administration “finds disclosure burdensome, it must seek relief from the Congress,” not from the courts.
“The federal government is required by law to make appropriations information public,” said Adina Rosenbaum, Public Citizen Litigation Group attorney and lead counsel on the case. “As this decision confirms, the administration cannot choose to disregard laws it dislikes.”
“We applaud the court of appeals’ unanimous decision and look forward to the Trump administration finally putting the spending database back online so that taxpayers can see how their money is being spent, as the law requires,” said Nikhel Sus, CREW Deputy Chief Counsel.