OMB officially restored public access to apportionment information after an August 9th DC Circuit appeals panel unanimously denied OMB’s request for a stay in our suit to get OMB to disclose apportionment information on a public website as required by law. That appellate decision follows a district court ruling that OMB violated the law and required it to restore the Congressionally mandated website. 

Apportionments show how OMB is implementing federal spending laws — or potentially impounding funds in violation of the law. 

Apportionment information is essential for Congress, journalists, and members of the public seeking to better understand how federal tax dollars are being spent. Public information about apportionments is critical now as the Trump administration continues to illegally withhold funding from federal agencies – including funds agencies must spend by September 30th. In 2024, Protect Democracy launched OpenOMB.org to make apportionments easier to find and track.

We and other OpenOMB.org users are actively working to analyze the new apportionments to ensure all the information that OMB is required by law to provide is once again posted publicly online.

This is about more than transparency. President Trump and OMB Director Vought have been open about their view that they can simply ignore appropriations laws they disagree with, but the law is clear: Congress and the public have a right to see how the President is spending tax payer dollars. This is a massive victory in the fight to protect the Constitution’s separation of powers, preserve Congress’s power of the purse, and ensure that taxpayers can see how their government is spending their money.

To find and track apportionment information visit: OpenOMB.org 

For more information about the suit visit: https://protectdemocracy.org/work/restoring-spending-transparency/