Web Site Woes: USAspending.gov

Inconsistencies will continue to plague USAspending.gov unless the Office of Management and Budget issues better reporting guidance to agencies, according to the Government Accountability Office.

The GAO report, issued on Friday, examines OMB's compliance with the 2006 Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, the law that created a public database of federal awards data. Designed to increase transparency and accountability in the contracting process, the act required OMB to establish USAspending.gov no later than Jan. 1, 2008.

GAO found missing data and inconsistencies between USAspending.gov and agency reporting, likely due to limited OMB guidance on how to submit information and the assumption that agencies will voluntarily comply with reporting requirements.

The audit also found that OMB so far has not included subaward data on the Web site, required by January 2009. The agency also has yet to submit an annual report to Congress on site usage and the recipient reporting burden, though officials expect to do so this year.