New Research Tools: “OMB Stands Up First Online Database of All Federal Programs”

From Federal News Radio:

It took 13 years — with some stops, starts and stumbles in between — but as of today, the federal government now has a single website designed to deliver detailed, searchable information about all federal programs.

The Office of Management and Budget flipped the switch Thursday on the new Federal Program Inventory, a platform it’s been building via various pilot efforts since December 2020. Officials acknowledge it doesn’t yet capture every single program: For now, only “domestic assistance” programs are included. But that broad category encompasses most federal spending, ranging from Social Security and Medicare to the smallest community block grant programs.

As of now, the database includes spending and performance data on 2,388 programs, said Diedre Harrison, OMB’s deputy controller.

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What’s new, Harrison said, is the ability to present all of that data on a single, easily-searchable platform. OMB thinks centralizing all of that data will be useful to non-governmental users like potential grant recipients, but also agency officials and members of Congress who are thinking about modifying or creating federal programs.

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FPI pulls data and information from existing government sources, such as SAM.gov and USASpending.gov, to offer users “detailed information” about a specific program’s spending, award recipients and available grant opportunities.

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“This tool serves a critical step towards increasing the transparency of federal operations and spending,” OMB said in a statement. “Grounded in a vision of an equitable, effective, and accountable government that delivers results for all Americans, OMB will work with stakeholders to iteratively improve the FPI.  This work will include working with agencies to ensure that each of the programs listed are consistent with other authoritative sources of federal assistance programs and for each of those programs making available more information including additional performance information”

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Direct to Federal Program Inventory

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