Sunstein touts White House record on transparency, accountability

Cass Sunstein, the chief of the White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), stressed the Obama administration takes public comments submitted on its transparency websites "extremely seriously."

In a speech at the Brookings Institution, Sunstein said it was not the case that federal officials ignore criticism of the rules they are required by federal mandate to post for comment on Web sites like RegInfo.gov, OIRA's main hub. Rather, Sunstein said, "If you look what's come out of the administration, in final form, public comments are playing a significant role..." Sunstein later added that the White House's push for transparency, especially on the federal government's Data.gov and IT dashboard websites, has allowed rule making to become more of a "collaborative process."