Americans have learned more since Jan. 20 than ever before about how the federal bureaucracy spends their tax dollars, so you might think folks celebrating Sunshine Week 2025 would be shouting "Hallelujah!."
Don't hold your breath.
Not familiar with Sunshine Week? It began in 2002 with a declaration by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors, then went national in 2005 when the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE), funded by the James S and John L Knight Foundation, became the prime sponsor. March 16 is James Madison's birthday, which is the official occasion for Sunshine Week.
James Madison, of course, wrote the Bill of Rights, including the First Amendment that guarantees the right of a free press. Less often spoken of is the fact that in doing so, Madison effectively sanctioned the growth of an independent news media as a powerful accountability tool in American government.
A little of my personal background is in order here: While growing up as a Reagan conservative in Oklahoma and then serving for eight years on Capitol Hill and in the Reagan administration, I realized pretty early on that transparency is Big Government's Biggest Enemy.
And for that very reason, I gladly became an enthusiastic backer of Sunshine Week after my journalism career was well underway. I've testified as a practicing journalist before both the Senate and House of Representatives, advocating for more transparency in government. And being elected to the National Freedom of Information Act Hall of Fame in 2006 is something I absolutely treasure.
But something rotten has happened to Sunshine Week since Donald Trump became America's 47th President. Sunshine Week is being politicized, and only four letters are needed to understand why: DOGE.
Most mainstream journalists were liberals when Sunshine Week was launched. But as a conservative ink-stained wretch, I was happy to make common cause with liberal journos as long as we were together celebrating and advancing measures to increase transparency in government.
That shared commitment to shining light in every dark corner of government is no longer. Consider what DOGE has done since Jan. 20, which is nothing less than exposing hundreds of billions of tax dollars being lost to waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government.
Everybody hears about the sensational examples such as paying for sexual transition surgeries for Latin American men who want to be considered women. But did you hear about this DOGE item from the Department of the Interior?
"This week, @Interior is dissolving the Federal Consulting Group (FCG), where one government department charges another to broker consulting contracts. As an example, FCG brokered a $75M contract to design website customer satisfaction surveys, and then attempted to award $830M to conduct similar surveys. The latter contract was discovered by @Interior and DOGE, and cancelled before signature."
That's only one of hundreds of examples exposed by DOGE, and it's only been up and operating for a couple of months! With such a record, one would expect the explosion of transparency in government DOGE is bringing about would prompt enthusiastic headlines among Sunshine Week celebrants.
One would be wrong, thanks to the politicization of Sunshine Week, as illustrated by this statement issued recently by Sunshine Week partner, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Government (CREW):
“By firing the head of the Office of Government Ethics, President Trump is continuing his purge of any independent officials tasked with holding him and his administration accountable to the law and ethical standards. This follows his firing of the head of the Office of Special Counsel and 17 inspectors general.
"Together, these actions will streamline any efforts he and his administration make to personally profit, install loyalists and avoid oversight of corruption and waste. By all indications, Trump is planning to run a lawless administration and these unprecedented moves are an alarming first step to put those plans into action.”
Think about it for one nanosecond: If Trump is determined to "run a lawless administration," why would he have created DOGE? Would the bank robber call the cops ahead of time to tell them where and when his next holdup will occur so they can be on the scene when it goes down?
Related: Another OpenTheBooks Win for the Transparency in Government Revolution
Or consider this statement by David Cullier, director of the Brechner Freedom of Information Project — another Sunshine Week partner — to Federal News Network, making the point that Democrat and Republican administrations have too often worked to conceal information about government activities:
“We have data going back decades that show this backslide. Regardless of who’s president, regardless of what party is in charge. This isn’t about party politics. This is about power. Ultimately, that’s what transparency comes down to. Information is power.”
Cullier is absolutely right that the desire in government to conceal information from the public in order to avoid accountability is a bipartisan sin. But think what you will about Trump — and being a Reaganaut, I am nowhere near Trump's biggest fan — is there not one word of praise for his bringing about the biggest explosion of transparency throughout the federal bureaucracy in American history?
No, unfortunately. This statement cited in the same FNN article that quoted Cullier appears to express the most prevalent attitude among Sunshine Week partners:
“It’s this veil of secrecy that they’ve been able to pull over the entire executive branch,” Patrice McDermott, director of Sunshine Week partner OpenTheGovernment.org, told FNN.
Whatever else Trump and DOGE may be doing, one thing is certain: The veil of secrecy that has suffocated transparency in the federal government has been there for decades. And thanks to DOGE, it is now being ripped away like never before.
Shouldn't that be something to celebrate during Sunshine Week?
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