WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today urged Trump Administration officials to consider what federal agencies need to do in order to come into compliance with the Digital Accountability and Transparency (DATA) Act, bipartisan federal financial management and transparency legislation authored by Sen. Warner and signed into law on May 9, 2014. The DATA Act has been hailed by Government Accountability Office (GAO) Director Gene Dodaro as “the single biggest thing” Congress could do to identify wasteful federal spending.

“Once fully implemented, [the DATA Act] will represent a key step in making government more transparent, accessible and accountable by transforming federal spending information into open data. In addition, the DATA Act represents a significant opportunity to improve internal agency governance and management, better allocate resources, and leverage data to inform policy-making and financial decision-making. The DATA Act has also served as an impetus for long-overdue IT modernization efforts across a number of federal agencies. As you oversee the numerous priorities facing your agency, I encourage you to see modernization efforts necessary to facilitate compliance with the statutory deadline as consistent with the new Administration’s professed commitment to updating IT across federal agencies,” wrote Sen. Warner in a letter to two dozen federal agencies.

The text of Sen. Warner’s letter today to executive branch agencies follows:

Dear [Secretary] [X],

Congratulations on your recent confirmation as [Secretary] of [X]. As you are no doubt aware, effective management of any large organization requires overseeing numerous competing priorities. As you come to grips with the challenges facing your agency in the months ahead, I urge you to prioritize efforts to modernize and update your agency’s spending and governance practices, especially as you continue the implementation of the Digital Accountability and Transparency (DATA) Act (Pub.L. 113–101).

The bipartisan DATA Act, signed into law on May 9, 2014, is the nation’s most significant open data law. Once fully implemented, it will represent a key step in making government more transparent, accessible and accountable by transforming federal spending information into open data. In addition, the DATA Act represents a significant opportunity to improve internal agency governance and management, better allocate resources, and leverage data to inform policy-making and financial decision-making. The DATA Act has also served as an impetus for long-overdue IT modernization efforts across a number of federal agencies. As you oversee the numerous priorities facing your agency, I encourage you to see modernization efforts necessary to facilitate compliance with the statutory deadline as consistent with the new Administration’s professed commitment to updating IT across federal agencies.[1]

I remain strongly committed to robust oversight of DATA Act implementation and to ensuring that federal agencies are able to fully realize the benefits of this crucial law. To that end, I would appreciate you sharing the following information with me by April [x]:

1.      While I understand that the President’s Budget “Blueprint” released on March 16 did not specify DATA Act implementation funding at your agency, I am hopeful that the forthcoming budget proposal will do so. What resources do you anticipate your agency requiring to implement the law?

2.      Most agencies are required to come into compliance with the law by May 2017. Do you anticipate meeting this deadline?

3.      What challenges has your agency confronted to date, or do you anticipate confronting, in implementing the law?

4.      How has implementation of the DATA Act fit in to your wider IT systems modernization efforts?

5.      As you move forward with implementation, what assistance from Congressional supporters of the DATA Act would be most helpful to your agency?

Again, I urge you to prioritize this important effort, which if carried out well will assist you in efforts to ensure that your agency is well-managed and providing transparency and accountability to taxpayers.

###