John,

We just got out of a hearing where we argued that Trump’s Office of Management and Budget is violating transparency laws and preventing the American people from seeing how taxpayer money is being spent.

That’s illegal.

So we, along with our co-counsel at Public Citizen, sued them for taking offline a legally required public database that shows how funds are being allocated. Donald Trump has tried to illegally withhold congressionally appropriated funds before, and this database is critical to the American public’s ability to hold him accountable for doing so when or if he does so again.

Today we went to court, and asked a judge to rule that what OMB did was illegal and force them to bring back the database.

John, in their filings for today's hearing, they tried to argue that requiring transparency from the executive branch on federal spending is unconstitutional!

This should go without saying, but a law passed by Congress requiring government transparency isn’t unconstitutional—it’s completely consistent with democratic governance and America’s founding principle of the separation of powers.

That’s what we’re defending in court.

Thank you,

CREW HQ