POGO Submits FOIA Request for Records Contained in New Government Contractor Performance Database

POGO has just submitted a Freedom Of Information (FOIA) request for all records contained in the government's new contractor performance and responsibility database. The database, the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS), will be available to all government employees beginning tomorrow. Sadly, the database will not be accessible to the public.

As POGO's General Counsel Scott Amey asserted in a statement today, “It’s illogical to think that the public will be denied access to a database that compiles press releases, agreements, and information from government websites. The public should demand access to this information in order to hold agencies and contractors accountable."

POGO has advocated for public access to FAPIIS throughout the database's development. In November, we issued a public comment on the database, arguing that the public "has a right to know the past performance and responsibility backgrounds of the contractors that receive hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars each year." We also raised concerns about public access to the database in a letter to the White House in President Obama's first month in office.

We'll keep you posted on how the General Services Administration, the agency maintaining the database, responds. For now, the public will have to be satisfied with POGO's Federal Contractor Misconduct Database, which served as a model for FAPIIS.

-- Bryan Rahija

Further Reading:    

• POGO's FOIA Request for Contractor Responsibility Database Information
• Move Over FCMD Make Way for FAPIIS
• POGO raises concerns about new contractor database
• POGO Urges President Obama to Provide Public Access to Contracting and Ethics Databases