With five weeks in office, Biden has fallen far 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 tenure in the White House.
Among the criticisms: the schedules of the president and vice president are not published online. The White House comment line is closed. There are no citizen petitions on the White House website. The White House has pledged to release visitor records. But he has no plans to divulge the names of those attending virtual meetings, which are the main mode of interaction until the coronavirus pandemic relaxes.
And while Biden has received praise for keeping the American public informed, mainly by resuming daily White House press meetings, he has not yet held a press conference of his own.
“The steps they have taken are welcome, but insufficient at the time and need,” said Alex Howard, an open government advocate who leads the Digital Democracy Project at the Demand Progress Educational Fund, an arm of a group of ‘left. “They must continue to ‘show their work’ by opening cabinet meetings, revealing information and using political capital to emphasize that being ‘open by default’ is not just an option, but an obligation to the whole government.”