21st Century Government
Campaign
to Cut Waste

President Obama and Vice President Biden launch the Campaign to Cut Waste, which will hunt down and eliminate misspent tax dollars in every agency and department across the Federal Government.

Read the executive order

21st Century Government Latest News

  • More than 3.66 Million Records Released

    Posted by Lindsay Holst on May 30, 2014 at 2:56 PM EDT

    In September 2009, the President announced that—for the first time in history—White House visitor records would be made available to the public on an ongoing basis. Today, the White House releases visitor records that were generated in February 2014. Today’s release also includes visitor records generated prior to September 16, 2009 that were requested by members of the public in April 2014 pursuant to the White House voluntary disclosure policy. This release brings the total number of records made public by this White House to more than 3.66 million—all of which can be viewed in our Disclosures section.

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  • The President and Vice President’s 2013 Financial Disclosure Forms

    Posted by Jay Carney on May 15, 2014 at 3:00 PM EDT

    Today, the President and Vice President released their 2013 financial disclosure reports.

    The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 requires high-level federal officials to publicly disclose their personal financial interests. The public filing system serves to prevent financial conflicts of interest by providing for a systematic review of the finances of government officials. Those finances are set forth in annual disclosures which are reviewed and certified by ethics officials. Neither the President nor the Vice President have any conflicts of interest, and their reports have been reviewed and certified by the independent Office of Government Ethics. We are continuing this Administration's practice of posting these forms online here in the interests of transparency:

    View the President's 2013 financial disclosure report (pdf)

    View the Vice President's 2013 financial disclosure report (pdf)

    White House staff are also completing their forms and we anticipate they will be available here next month, also in electronic form.

    For more information:

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  • More than 3.61 Million Records Released

    Posted by Megan Slack on April 25, 2014 at 3:00 PM EDT

    In September 2009, the President announced that—for the first time in history—White House visitor records would be made available to the public on an ongoing basis. Today, the White House releases visitor records that were generated in January 2014. Today’s release also includes visitor records generated prior to September 16, 2009 that were requested by members of the public in March 2014 pursuant to the White House voluntary disclosure policy. This release brings the total number of records made public by this White House to more than 3.61 million—all of which can be viewed in our Disclosures section.

    Learn more about Ethics

  • President Obama and Vice President Biden’s 2013 Tax Returns

    Posted by Jay Carney on April 11, 2014 at 2:00 PM EDT

    Today, the President released his 2013 federal income tax returns. He and the First Lady filed their income tax returns jointly and reported adjusted gross income of $481,098. The Obamas paid $98,169 in total tax.

    The President and First Lady also reported donating $59,251 – or about 12.3 percent of their adjusted gross income – to 32 different charities. The largest reported gift to charity was $8,751 to the Fisher House Foundation. The President’s effective federal income tax rate is 20.4 percent. The President pushed for and signed into law legislation that makes the system more fair and helps the middle class by extending tax cuts to middle class and working families and asks the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share. In 2013, as a result of his policies, the President was subject to limitations in tax preferences, as well as additional Medicare and investment income taxes, for high income earners. The President and First Lady also released their Illinois income tax return and reported paying $23,328 in state income tax.

    DOWNLOAD THE OBAMAS' TAX RETURNS

    The Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden also released their 2013 federal income tax returns, as well as state income tax returns for both Delaware and Virginia. The Bidens filed joint federal and combined Delaware income tax returns. Dr. Biden filed a separate non-resident Virginia tax return. Together, they reported adjusted gross income of $407,009. The Bidens paid $96,378 in total federal tax for 2013, amounting to an effective tax rate of 23.7 percent. They also paid $14,644 in Delaware income tax and Dr. Biden paid $3,470 in Virginia income tax. The Bidens contributed $20,523 to charity in 2013, including contributing the royalties received from Dr. Biden’s children’s book, net of taxes, to the USO.

    DOWNLOAD THE BIDENS' TAX RETURNS

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    Learn more about Economy, Ethics

  • More than 3.57 Million Records Released

    Posted by David Hudson on March 28, 2014 at 3:48 PM EDT

    In September 2009, the President announced that—for the first time in history—White House visitor records would be made available to the public on an ongoing basis. Today, the White House releases visitor records that were generated in December 2013. Today’s release also includes visitor records generated prior to September 16, 2009 that were requested by members of the public in February 2014 pursuant to the White House voluntary disclosure policy. This release brings the total number of records made public by this White House to more than 3.57 million—all of which can be viewed in our Disclosures section.

    Learn more about Ethics

  • Fossils, Seeds, and Space Rocks: Improving the Management of and Access to the Nation’s Scientific Collections

    Posted by Michael Stebbins and Erica Lieberman on March 20, 2014 at 9:00 AM EDT

    Scientific Collections 1

    Collections manager David Furth shows some of the diversity in the insect collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. (Photo by Chip Clark, Smithsonian Institution)

    In a memorandum released today, OSTP Director John P. Holdren directs Federal agencies to develop policies that will improve the management of and access to scientific collections that they own or support.

    Scientific collections are assemblies of physical objects that are valuable for research and education—including drilling cores from the ocean floor and glaciers, seeds, space rocks, cells, mineral samples, fossils, and more. Federal agencies develop and maintain scientific collections as records of our past and investments in our future.

    These collections are public assets. They play an important role in promoting public health and safety, homeland security, trade, and economic development, medical research, resource management, education, and environmental monitoring.

    They are studied across diverse fields of research and are used and re-used to validate and extend past research results as new analytical techniques develop. For the American public, students, and teachers, they are also treasure troves of information ripe for exploration and learning.  

    And there is no better time to highlight this important new policy than Sunshine Week – an annual celebration of transparency and public participation in government.

    The memorandum released today fulfills the requirements of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 that called on OSTP to develop “policies for the management and use of Federal scientific collections to improve the quality, organization, access, including online access, and long-term preservation of such collections for the benefit of the scientific enterprise.”

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