No real database: federal earmarks Web site falls short of promise.

The long-awaited federal earmark funding Web site premiered March 12 to poor reviews as critics said it fell far short of its intended purpose as a searchable database of federal spending.

The White House Office of Management and Budget COMB) posted aggregate totals of earmarks for 2005 by agency--but not specific information that was expected, such as recipients and bills or in a searchable database form--at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/earmarks/index.html.

Critics pointed to a January 25 memo from OMB Director Rob Portman that set a timeline for departments and agencies for collecting, reviewing and entering data. The memo sets forth a February 28 deadline for agencies to complete data entry, and March 8 for OMB to complete a review of the data before posting information on the Internet March 12.

More specific information will be posted on the site in the coming weeks as it becomes verified and complete, along with a search capability, said OMB Press Secretary Sean Kevelighan.

John Hart, a spokesman for Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), a sponsor of the bill that created the federal database, said the senator is encouraging OMB to be more specific on the Web site and is expected to discuss it with Portman. "It's obvious what's been released falls short of the January 25 memo," he said.

"We admittedly set an ambitious deadline for collection and certification of this data. We've literally been working around the clock to ensure we get all the data in place," Kevelighan said, adding that it's important to ensure data accuracy and that information is unbiased so that it can't be misused. "We don't want to give the impression or corner any individual or particular entities that may or may not be deserving of a certain earmark. We just want to make sure we're consistent."

According to Capitol Hill sources and other reports, the White House legislative affairs office pressured the White House budget office not to release the searchable database to avoid embarrassment to appropriations

committees.

The site is the "largest one-stop source on earmarks that's been provided by the federal government," Kevelighan said. "When doing something to that caliber, anything that gets put together, on the White House Web site needs to be accurate and needs to be consistent,"

OMB Watch, a Washington, D.C. watchdog group, launched its own site with database last year, at www.fedspending.org.

Portman said in a statement accompanying the Web site's launch, "The earmarks database is consistent with the Administration's overall effort to bring greater transparency to federal spending. The Web site provides aggregate-level data down to the agency and account level. This begins to establish the benchmark from which to judge and achieve the President's cut in half goal," he said, referring to President George W. Bush's State of the Union remarks, when he called on Congress to cut in half the number and cost of earmarks.

"OMB will continue to review and certify additional data and will post it as it is available and verified," Portman continued. "This database provides more accurate information on earmarks in one place than has ever been available through the federal government. Today's launch marks an important first step towards providing greater transparency, accountability and integrity to federal spending as well as the overall budgetary process."

The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (S. 2590) was sponsored by Coburn and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and unanimously passed this past September, following approval by the House of Representatives in June. The federal government awards approximately $300 billion in grants to some 30,000 organizations, and each year, approximately one million contracts exceed the reporting threshold of $25,000, according to officials.