The outgoing Biden administration has admirably made and followed through on some public commitments to transparency and open government. Yet there remain areas for improvement and lessons the new administration can learn from these efforts. One area for improvement is sharing information about White House-level events, meetings, summits, and conferences. Even as federal agencies are subject to standards for conference tracking and reporting and expected to adhere to additional standards intended to foster public participation and engagement, transparency at the White House level still remains somewhat aspirational with respect to sharing information and resources about important events.
In October 2023, confronting a rise in youth substance misuse, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and Department of Education announced a “Bipartisan Youth Substance Use Prevention Summit.” While there is an announcement of the summit on the White House’s website, there is no information about who was invited to this event, how they were selected, what was discussed (i.e., an agenda), or major outcomes and follow up.
The same is true for the September 2024 summit on HIV in the Latino community, the November 2024 Classroom to Career Summit, and the December 2024 Conference on Women’s Health Research to name but a few recent events hosted by the outgoing administration. Past administrations appear to have held similar events with minimal documentation provided to the public, though admittedly this is harder to assess retroactively, as material from past administrations is quickly removed or archived when new White House staff and leadership take charge.
White House summits and events often garner significant attention from the media, among private and public partners, and even within the federal government. Such recent events as the Women’s Health Summit, Latino HIV Summit, and Classroom to Career Summit were covered by major media. At times, associations, organizations, or individuals who attend note their participation in newsletters or other materials. Publicly sharing materials such as a list of attendees, presentations, agendas, recommendations (if developed by the group), and planned or implemented follow-up activities would be helpful to promote transparency about the White House’s actions related to these important topics. It may also help to foster accountability about who is invited to such events and the topics discussed, enabling the public to assess, analyze, and critique discussions that could be influencing the policy of the executive branch. This remains true even if portions of these events, such as a high-level official’s speech, eventually are made available to the public.
Additional information-sharing also is consistent with efforts to broaden public participation and engagement in government decision-making. As well, disclosure of these materials is consistent with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) proactive disclosure policies. (While the immediate offices and staff that serve and support the President are not directly subject to FOIA, the records of federal agencies that support or send staff to participate in such White House-level events likely would be).
Past administrations clearly have not always shared all they could with the American people about important and high-profile White House events. But a new administration brings new opportunities for heightened accountability and transparency.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are solely those of the author writing in his private capacity and should not be imputed to other individuals nor to any public or private entities.
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