On May 27, the Obama administration released a memorandum requiring reviews of overclassification and the current Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)/Sensitive but Unclassified (SBU) process. The memorandum establishes separate 90-day interagency review processes to advise the administration on actions it should take to advance previous efforts to reform problems associated with these issues.

Every year, the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) request public comments on recommendations for their Guidance Priority List to identify tax issues that should be addressed through regulations, revenue rulings, revenue procedures, notices, and other guidance for the year. OMB Watch recently submitted comments that urge the IRS to prioritize the creation of a bright-line definition of prohibited political activity for tax-exempt charities and religious organizations. Such clarity is particularly important given recent findings that IRS agents have not properly differentiated between permissible advocacy and activities that are considered partisan election intervention.

President Barack Obama's March 20 memo restricts communications between federally registered lobbyists and executive branch employees on use of Recovery Act funds and requires disclosure of written communications. A closer examination of the summaries of lobbyist contacts with federal agencies shows that there are few online postings of those communications; some agencies have not posted any contacts at all. According to a review of the 29 agencies receiving stimulus money, only 110 contacts had been disclosed as of May 18.