The Congressional Transparency Caucus is hosting a panel discussion on Transparency in the Executive Branch on Tuesday, April 16, 20204, at 1:30 pm, in room 2261 of the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. The event is open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance.
Read moreSave the Date: Transparency Caucus Coffee Hour
The Congressional Transparency Caucus is hosting a breakfast panel discussion on major transparency updates from the 117th Congress and top-line projects and areas for reform.
What: Transparency Caucus Coffee Hour: Transparency in the 118th Congress
When: Tuesday, June 13 from 8:30-9:30 AM ET
Where: South Congressional Meeting Room (CVC 217)
Who:
- Reps. Mike Quigley (D-IL) and Tim Walberg (R-MI)
- Dan Lips, Foundation for American Innovation
- Susan Harley, Public Citizen
- Dylan Fedtler-Gaudette, Project on Government Oversight
This event is open to all. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP HERE. Coffee and breakfast pastries will be served.
Video: Congressional Transparency Caucus: What’s Next in Transparency Across the Federal Government
On September 14, 2022, the Congressional Transparency Caucus held a panel discussion entitled What’s Next in Transparency Across the Federal Government.
Save The Date: Transparency Caucus Event on Transparency Across the Federal Government
The Congressional Transparency Caucus is hosting an event on Wednesday, September 14, 2022 at 11:00 AM ET at the Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2359. Video of the event will be available here.
RSVP here.
Transparency Caucus Co-chairs Reps. Mike Quigley and Tim Walberg, as well as Vice Chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney are hosting a conversation about transparency priorities across the federal government.
Panelists include:
– Liz Hempowicz, Director of Public Policy at the Project on Government Oversight
– Mike Lissner, Executive Director of the Free Law Project
– Daniel Schuman, Policy Director at Demand Progress
– Moderator: Katherine Tully-McManus, Congress Reporter at Politico
The panel will discuss the state of transparency and accountability across all three branches of the federal government and what Congress can do to advance it. Government transparency is a historically bipartisan endeavor and we will explore common-sense, consensus ways to bring more sunshine to each of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
Video: Advisory Committee on Transparency Sunshine Week 2022 Event
The Advisory Committee on Transparency hosted its first event of 2022 on Wednesday, March 16, 2022, titled Sunshine Week 2022. The event featured live remarks from Representative Quigley, founder of the Congressional Transparency Caucus, and recorded remarks from Representative Kilmer, Chair of the House Select Committee on Modernization.
The distinguished panel included:
-Shanna Devine, Director of the House Office of the Whistleblower Ombuds.
-Kate Oh, Attorney and Senior Policy Counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union.
-Danielle Brian, Executive Director of the Project On Government Oversight.
-Nick Hart, President of the Data Foundation.
Read moreSave the Date: Advisory Committee on Transparency Event on Transparency and Oversight in 2022
Save the date! You are cordially invited to celebrate and examine government transparency during Sunshine Week, the nation-wide celebration of access to public information that takes place every year on the second week of March. Please join the Advisory Committee on Transparency for a virtual conference on March 16 at 12 PM.
On the occasion of President James Madison’s birthday*, we will recognize centuries of sunshine laws that established and codified the public’s rights to know and access knowledge, forming the foundation of today’s open government policies, programs, and proactive disclosures across all three branches of the U.S. government.
Panelists include:
- Shanna Devine, Director of the House Office of the Whistleblower Ombuds
- Kate Oh, Attorney and Senior Policy Counsel at the American Civil Liberites Union
- Danielle Brian, Executive Director of the Project on Government Oversight
- Nick Hart, President of the Data Foundation
- Moderator: Alex Howard, Co-Director of the Advisory Committee on Transparency, Director of the Digital Democracy Project at the Demand Progress Education Fund
The event will feature remarks from Representative Mike Quigley, Founder of the Congressional Transparency Caucus, and Representative Derek Kilmer, Chair of the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress.
The program on March 16th will include:
1) A review of the status of sunshine laws, including recent reforms to public access to information in the executive branch, from the DATA Act to FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 to the Evidence Act of 2019
2) A discussion of the impact of the pandemic and the January 6th attack on the Capitol on public access to public records, data, and trustworthy information from official sources, including transparency at the Capitol Police, Justice Department, prisons, and courts
3) A call to action on proposed legislative reforms to sunshine laws, including proactive disclosure for legislative branch agencies, increased public access to court records, and more resilient democracy through distributed public oversight, collaboration, and participation.
More details to come.
*For those unfamiliar with this past of American history, President Madison famously wrote that “a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”
As a result, he is commonly recognized as one of the founding fathers of open government in the United States, the notion that in a democracy, the public has the right to access the laws, regulations, documents, data, and proceedings of state, local, and federal agencies, legislatures, and courts as a fundamental pillar of public oversight. In the many decades since Madison’s passing, March 16th has become an annual day to to celebrate public access to information and press freedom across the union.
Video: Transparency Lightning Talks
The Advisory Committee on Transparency hosted its final event of 2021 on November 8, 2021, titled Transparency Lightning Talks. Instead of the traditional panel discussion, the event brought together transparency experts from across the political spectrum to give presentations on improving government transparency and accountability.
Watch the full discussion below.
Read moreVideo: Transparency Caucus Event on Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Transparency
On Wednesday, October 20, 2021, the Congressional Transparency Caucus hosted a conversation to learn about the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) and its crucial role in overseeing over $5 trillion in pandemic relief legislation.
Video of the panel discussion is available here:
Read moreSave The Date: Transparency Caucus Event on Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Transparency
The Congressional Transparency Caucus is hosting an event on Wednesday, October 20, 2021 at 10:00 AM ET over Zoom.
Representatives Mike Quigley and Tim Walberg are hosting a conversation to learn about the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) and its crucial role in overseeing over $5 trillion in pandemic relief legislation.
Panelists include:
–Michael Horowitz, PRAC Chairman and Department of Justice Inspector General
–Liz Hempowicz, Director of Public Policy at the Project on Government Oversight
–Joseph Ferguson, Chicago Inspector General
–Caryl N. Brzymialkiewicz, Ph.D., Deputy Inspector General at the U.S. Department of the Interior
These leaders will discuss the importance of transparency and oversight of the trillions of dollars the federal government has spent fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting Americans during this crisis and how PRAC can help the administration, state and local government, and Congress to ensure effective use of these funds and fight fraud, waste, and abuse.
Save The Date: Transparency Lightning Talks
The Advisory Committee on Transparency is hosting its fourth webinar on Monday, November 8th, at 11:00 am ET via Zoom.
Instead of the traditional panel discussion about a certain topic or issue, this event aims to bring together transparency experts from across the political spectrum to present various issues of high importance. Each presenter will get five minutes to discuss their topic in a PowerPoint format — with each slide taking 30 seconds or less.
–Presenters include:
- Walter Shaub, Senior Ethics Fellow, Project On Government Oversight
- Topic: The need to create a government ethics records database.
- Erica Newland, Counsel, Protect Democracy
- Topic: Congressional oversight and congressional lawyering as transparency issues.
- Tom Susman, DC Open Government Coalition
- Topic: Increasing access to Legislative Branch information.
- Corinna Turbes, Policy Director, Data Coalition
- Topic: Spending transparency initiatives included in the passage of the DATA Act/GREAT Act, and the CBJT Act.
- Ryan Mulvey, Policy Counsel, Americans For Prosperity Foundation
- Topic: FOIA caselaw developments in SCOTUS and circuits
- Anna Massoglia, Investigative Researcher, OpenSecrets
- Topic: Transparency around foreign money in U.S. elections.
- Freddy Martinez, Policy Analyst, Open The Government
- Topic: FOIA and reform efforts.
- Reynold Schweickhardt, Senior Advisor, Lincoln Network
- Topic: TBD
- Moderator: Ginger McCall, Legal Director, Demand Progress
About the Advisory Committee on Transparency: Democracy is dependent upon a transparent, accountable, and effective government. The Advisory Committee on Transparency is a decade-old effort to educate policymakers on transparency-related issues, problems, and solutions and shares ideas with members of the Congressional Transparency Caucus. It hosts events to discuss important and wide-ranging transparency policy issues with experts from a variety of backgrounds and develops educational publications and provides timely information to the public and members of Congress.
More information: Visit the Advisory Committee on Transparency at https://transparencycaucus.info/about