California Attorney General Rob Bonta, together with 18 other state attorneys general, has submitted an amicus brief in the case Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. Office of Management and Budget. The case, currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, concerns the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) decision to deactivate the Public Apportionments Database—an online tool that details how federal agencies plan to spend funds appropriated by Congress.
Attorney General Bonta criticized the Trump Administration’s approach to federal spending transparency. “The Trump Administration is attempting to dodge their obligation to publicly disclose how it directs agencies to spend taxpayer money, limiting state’s view into how the Administration is handling critical funding,” said Bonta. “This information is important for citizens and states to ensure transparent governance — and especially essential given the billions of dollars the Trump Administration has already illegally cancelled or withheld. I urge the court to stay the course and insist the Trump Administration transparently report how its spending appropriated funds.”
In 2022, Congress required OMB to make apportionment decisions public in a timely way so that organizations could identify any failures by the federal government to comply with appropriations laws. Earlier this year, OMB announced it would stop following this statute. Since January, according to officials from several states, billions of dollars in appropriated funds have been withheld without proper disclosure.
Specific examples cited include delays in releasing over $6 billion in education funds, termination of nearly $400 million designated for state AmeriCorps programs, and disruption of millions intended for state-run libraries.
Bonta and his colleagues argue that without access to up-to-date apportionment data, states cannot monitor OMB’s actions effectively or intervene when there are violations related to withholding funds. This lack of transparency can lead to crisis situations for states and impairs their ability to protect their interests during ongoing litigation.
The coalition submitting this brief includes attorneys general from California, District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
A copy of the amicus brief is available online.
