GAO: Obama administration website on stimulus spending fails on transparency

The website used to track stimulus spending does not meet the transparency requirements laid out by the administration last year, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). According to the 400-page report, only a quarter of the projects listed on Recovery.gov provide clear and complete information on the cost, schedule, purpose, location and status of stimulus-funded work. Most of the entries on the site provide some of that information, but 7 percent of the entries provide little to no information about how stimulus dollars are being spent, the report said. The study was conducted at the request of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). The report notes that agencies that received guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on what information to include in the stimulus reports tended to have more complete data on the website. The report cited a transit award used to purchase hybrid buses as an example of clear, transparent reporting, in contrast to a highway award for "chip sealing" that failed to explain what the practice is or why it is being used.