After five weeks in office, Biden has fallen short of his former boss, Barack Obama, in several areas, and is under pressure to do more to restore confidence in the federal government after Trump’s chaotic White House mandate.
Among the criticisms: The president’s and vice president’s schedules are not published online. The White House commentary line has ended. There are no citizen petitions on the White House website. The White House has pledged to release visitor records. But it does not intend to disclose the names of participants in the virtual meetings, which are the main form of interaction until the coronavirus pandemic subsides.
And while Biden has received praise for keeping the American public informed, especially when resuming daily White House press conferences, he has yet to give his own press conference.
“The steps they took are welcome, but insufficient for the moment and the need,” said Alex Howard, an open government advocate who runs the Digital Democracy Project at the Demand Progress Educational Fund, an arm of a left-wing group. . “They need to continue ‘showing their work’ by opening cabinet meetings, disseminating information and using political capital to emphasize that being ‘open by default’ is not just an option, but an obligation across the government.”