Chairman Issa pledges to save transparency sites

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) is pushing to save the Obama Administration's transparency websites from budget cuts to the E-Government fund. Chairman Issa recently expressed optimism that sites like Data.gov, USASpending.gov and others can survive despite a 50 percent cut in funding for E-Government programs in the budget deal recently approved by Congress. "We will find a way, and this is a personal pledge, to make sure they are not shut down," he said at a panel discussion. "The specific funding goes away but reprogramming authority would still be available. Our view is on a case-by-case basis we will be able to keep them open." The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has reportedly been making contingency plans for taking the sites offline since the House passed a budget last month that slashed funding from $34 million in fiscal 2010 to just $2 million in 2011.