United States' 2022-2024 Results Report - Final Publication

[Daniel Schuman]

FYI, yesterday the Independent Reporting Mechanism released the final report for 2022-2024 on U.S. participation in the fifth U.S. Open Government National Action Plan.

While the U.S. met many of its objectives according to the IRM, those objectives largely were not set with civil society and were the completion of tasks the government had already set for itself. In my view, this undermined the purpose of the open government partnership. Furthermore, accomplishments that occured during this time period were rolled back by the next administration. 

The most notable effort to create a mix between government and civil society, the Open Government Secretariat and the Open Government Federal Advisory Committee, were abolished or effectively disbanded.

Here is the email from the IRM concerning release of their report (with identifying information removed).

- Daniel

---------- Forwarded message ---------

Dear colleagues, 

I hope you are doing well!

We’re pleased to share that the final version of the United States' 2022-2024 Results Report is now available online. Please see the IRM's Procedures Manual for information on IRM products, methodology, and processes. 

As always, please let us know if you have any questions regarding the report production process. 

[Alexander Howard]

Thank you for sharing this, Daniel.

I submitted my public comment from last summer in response. As I wrote in the (sole) filing in the IRM docket, the selective record the IRM presented regarding the Biden administration’s was incomplete and omitted key decisions and failures: 

https://downloads.regulations.gov/GSA-GSA-2024-0002-0037/attachment_1.pdf

Once again, I saw no “on the record” comments from former or current US officials defending failed co-creation 2021-2022, nor how badly implementation failed 2019-2021 — nor why. 

https://governing.digital/2024/06/21/the-u-s-governments-self-assessment-of-its-performance-on-open-government-suffers-from-opacity-and-omission/

I recounted the full record in June 2024: 

https://governing.digital/2024/06/21/the-u-s-governments-self-assessment-of-its-performance-on-open-government-suffers-from-opacity-and-omission/

The refusal of any Biden administration officials or current administration officials to comment on the record should have been noted as a red flag. It’s part of a decade-long pattern of opacity and unaccountability in IRM reports that helped the US government openwash at home while touting OGP’s impact in other nations. 

The IRM should also have noted that the Trump admin has fired the advisory committee Daniel co-chaired, fired or reassigned secretariat staff, taken down data, gagged scientists, & used social media to attack journalists and journalism. 

This IRM report does not reflect how and when the USG has acted contrary to process in co-creation for two cycles, acted contrary to process in implementation for years & now, & more broadly how the US government’s national security state has repeatedly has acted contrary to the principles in the declaration since 2016. 

As former OGP CEO Pradhan acknowledged in 2023, “in its 2019-2022 action plan, the Government of the United States did not meet the OGP minimum requirements for implementation.” He noted that the United States has already acted contrary to process previously, during co-creation of the 2019-2022 action plan.

But inexplicably, Pradhan pronounced that — despite the United States already acting contrary to process during said cycle — “the government of the United States is not being placed under Procedural Review at this time.”

https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/USA_Contrary-to-Process-Letter_20230811.pdf

I believe the sad history of OGP in the US government since 2017 shows this decision to have been an error, depriving US civil society organizations of the key plank of accountability that the IRM is supposed to provide & enabling the Biden administration to underpromise, underdeliver, & undermine the legitimacy of the partnership & confidence in the utility of this multi-stakeholder platform to deliver real results. (It’s worth noting that New York City was allowed to join OGP in January 2024 & never co-created a plan, during an era in which its Mayor was indicted for corruption and then pardoned.)

As 2025 comes to a close, the Trump administration has not held any public meetings, nor have done nothing to co-create a new plan. They sent no delegation to the Summit in Spain.  Those are relevant facts should all been in the public record, given the continued US presence on the steering committee. 

The US should now be placed under review.

If it’s not possible to effectively collaborate an administration uninterested in good faith collaboration or investment in good governance, why should one actively embracing illiberalism, calling journalists enemies, and gutting anti-corruption programs and policies be allowed to remain in good standing? It’s worth noting that Israel is also under review.

Instead, we should expect a consultant to deliver a report next summer that the Member nations in OGP will discuss and then table out of fear that the administration will use tariffs or sanctions against any officials who dare to criticize their record on good governance, press freedom, civil liberties, or defiance of court orders. 

I believe that OGP has been most effective globally in nations with parliamentary systems that have made ministers accountable, with engagement with media houses. If it’s ever going to be relevant to the US government, there will need to be integration into Congress, the judicial branch, & our media and academic sectors that fundamentally change the broken dynamic that persists at year’s end.

With regrets,

Alex

PS I’m sorry to add this lump of coal to stockings at year’s end on Christmas Eve. May you and yours be safe and well this season.

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[Josh Wilson]

Thanks alexander, I feel i should also share a 12/22 federal comment on regulation transparency issues... (attached and online at https://www.regulations.gov/comment/FWS-HQ-ES-2025-0044-10294  )

Happy Holidays.

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