Obama's Econ Board Doesn't Look So Transparent

When Barack Obama announced his Paul Volcker-led economic advisory board, he said it would meet every 2 weeks. Six weeks later it still hasn’t met, and isn’t planning on doing so until “late spring”—at least not publicly. Board members hint that some are meeting in private, Politico reports, which raises questions about an administration that prides itself on transparency.

One board member’s aide told Politico about a meeting at the White House on Feb. 26, but there are no public minutes or records of that get-together. According to 1972’s Federal Advisory Committee Act, all such meetings must be public or announced officially. The White House says individual board members are in contact with the president and other officials, and preparing for their first official meeting. (More Barack Obama stories.)