The Transparency Toolkit
Spending, audits, internal investigations, public records, rules still being drafted, campaign money, lobbying filings, and court documents — all of it is disclosed by law, and most of it goes unread. This page is the map: each window, what you'll actually find behind it, and how to use it without any special access. None of these require a lawyer, a press badge, or an account with us.
Entries marked non-gov are independent nonprofits, included where they make public records more usable — and labeled so you always know whose door you're walking through. This page is civic education, not legal advice: it shows where the records are, not what to do in a legal matter.
Every lever has a boundary, and the boundary is the most useful part: a person who knows what FOIA cannot reach stops wasting months on it, and a person who knows what the campaign filings omit stops over-reading them.
This describes published procedures and cites the statutes they come from. It is not legal advice, and a matter with real stakes deserves a lawyer.
Ask any federal agency for its own records — and they must answer.
Who may use it: Anyone. No citizenship, no residency, no reason required — the statute does not ask why you want it.
| What | When | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| The agency must DETERMINE whether to comply | 20 business days from receipt | 5 U.S.C. §552(a)(6)(A)(i) |
| Extension in 'unusual circumstances', with written notice | up to 10 more business days | 5 U.S.C. §552(a)(6)(B) |
| Expedited processing where there is a compelling need | decided within 10 calendar days | 5 U.S.C. §552(a)(6)(E) |
What it costs: Fees depend on your requester category — educational, noncommercial scientific and news-media requesters pay no search fees. A waiver is available where disclosure is in the public interest and not primarily commercial. Each agency publishes its own current schedule; read yours before assuming a cost.
One person actually using it
A parent wants the inspection history of a bridge on their commute. For federal records the agency is the Federal Highway Administration; for the road itself it is the state DOT under state law. The request names the structure number, asks for inspection reports across a five-year range, and claims the public-interest fee waiver. The twenty-day clock starts at receipt, not at the agency's convenience.
The authority that publishes the current rules and figures: www.foia.gov/
Agencies must publish proposed rules and grapple with the substantive comments they receive.
Who may use it: Anyone, including people with no stake and no lawyer.
| What | When | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| The comment period, set in the proposed rule itself | commonly 30 to 60 days — the notice governs, so check it | 5 U.S.C. §553 (notice and comment) |
What it costs: Nothing. No fee, no lawyer, no standing requirement.
One person actually using it
A nurse comments on a proposed staffing rule: cites the specific paragraph, gives shift data from their own hospital, and answers the agency's own question about implementation cost. That comment is far likelier to appear in the final preamble than a thousand copies of a campaign template.
The authority that publishes the current rules and figures: www.regulations.gov/
Federal awards — contracts, grants, loans — are published with the recipient, the amount and the awarding agency.
Who may use it: Anyone, with no account.
| What | When | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Agencies report award data on a published schedule | reporting lags the award; the site states its own data-as-of date, and quoting a total without reading it is how people get this wrong | Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act; DATA Act of 2014 |
What it costs: Nothing.
One person actually using it
A resident hears a company got 'millions' for a local project. The recipient search shows the prime award, its period of performance, and three sub-awards — two to firms in another state. The headline number and the local-jobs claim turn out to be different questions.
The authority that publishes the current rules and figures: www.usaspending.gov/
Most federal agencies carry an independent watchdog that audits and investigates them, and publishes what it finds.
Who may use it: Anyone may read the reports; anyone may file a complaint, including employees and contractors.
| What | When | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| IGs report to Congress semiannually | twice a year, published | Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended |
What it costs: Nothing.
One person actually using it
Before assuming a programme is failing, search the IG reports for it. Often the audit already exists, names the specific control that failed, and states whether the agency agreed with the recommendation — which is more than any news story will give you.
The authority that publishes the current rules and figures: www.oversight.gov/
Federal candidates and committees file their receipts and spending, and the filings are public.
Who may use it: Anyone.
| What | When | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Committees file on a quarterly or monthly schedule, plus pre- and post-election reports | set by the Commission's published calendar for each cycle | Federal Election Campaign Act; 52 U.S.C. §30104 |
What it costs: Nothing.
One person actually using it
A voter looks up a House candidate, finds the principal campaign committee, and reads Schedule A. Most receipts are itemised individuals; a large independent expenditure supporting the same candidate comes from a committee whose own donors are not itemised — which is the honest end of what this record can tell them.
The authority that publishes the current rules and figures: www.fec.gov/
Registered lobbyists file quarterly reports naming their clients, their issues, and roughly what they were paid.
Who may use it: Anyone.
| What | When | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly activity reports | filed within 20 days after the end of each quarter | Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, as amended by HLOGA 2007 |
What it costs: Nothing.
One person actually using it
Before believing a bill 'came out of nowhere', search the bill number in the lobbying filings. Often several registrants listed it by number for quarters beforehand — which is not proof of anything improper, and is exactly the context the record exists to give.
The authority that publishes the current rules and figures: lda.senate.gov/system/public/
The six levers above are the ones with a procedure worth walking through. Below is everything else this toolkit points at, grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Every federal dollar is supposed to be traceable, because the Constitution requires that no money leave the Treasury except by law — and that a 'regular Statement and Account' of it be published. These are the places that statement actually lives. If someone tells you where tax money goes, these sites are how you check them.
U.S. Department of the Treasury
What you'll find: Every federal award — contracts, grants, loans — searchable by agency, recipient, place, and time. Who got the money, from which agency, for what.
How to use it: Search your city or a company's name. The recipient profiles show every federal dollar an organization has received, which is often more informative than anything written about them.
Legislative branch — Congress's auditor
What you'll find: Independent audits and investigations of how federal programs actually perform, including the annual High Risk List of programs most vulnerable to waste and mismanagement.
How to use it: Before believing a claim that a program 'works' or 'is a disaster,' search it here. GAO reports are the closest thing the government has to a report card it writes about itself.
Legislative branch — nonpartisan by statute
What you'll find: Cost estimates for nearly every significant bill before Congress votes on it, plus long-term budget and economic projections.
How to use it: When a politician says a bill 'costs nothing' or 'costs a fortune,' the CBO score is the number both parties will be quoting selectively. Read the actual estimate — the summary is usually two pages.
Internal Revenue Service
What you'll find: Whether a charity is actually tax-exempt, and its filed Form 990s — the public financial disclosures every substantial nonprofit must make.
How to use it: Before donating, look the organization up. A 990 shows revenue, spending, and top salaries. (This project's own nonprofit will appear here once its exemption is granted — check us too.)
Inside almost every federal agency sits an Inspector General — an internal watchdog with legal independence, whose job is to investigate their own agency and publish what they find. Their reports are among the most underused public documents in America: findings of waste, abuse, and failure, written by insiders, free to read.
Council of the Inspectors General (CIGIE)
What you'll find: All public reports from all federal Inspectors General in one searchable place — tens of thousands of them — plus a unified hotline directory for reporting fraud, waste, and abuse.
How to use it: Search any agency you're curious about. IG reports name what broke, who was responsible, and whether the agency fixed it. This is the single best first stop for 'is this agency actually working?'
Each agency's Inspector General
What you'll find: The lawful, protected route for reporting fraud, waste, abuse, or danger inside a federal program — for employees and for members of the public.
How to use it: If you witness misuse of federal money or authority, the IG hotline is the channel with legal protection attached. It is informational to know this exists; using it for a real matter may deserve advice from a lawyer first.
The Freedom of Information Act starts from a radical premise: the government's records belong to the public, and the burden is on the government to justify withholding, not on you to justify asking. Anyone can file a request — no reason required, no citizenship required, no lawyer required.
U.S. Department of Justice
What you'll find: The central portal for filing FOIA requests with any federal agency, tracking data on how fast each agency responds, and each agency's FOIA reading room of already-released records.
How to use it: Check the reading rooms first — what you want may already be released. If not, a request is a short written description of the records you seek. Be specific (dates, offices, subject); vague requests are the ones that stall for years.
National Archives and Records Administration
What you'll find: The permanent records of the United States — founding documents, military service records, census records, presidential libraries, and the Federal Register.
How to use it: Family history, military service, and the original text of any founding document all start here. Most of our Founders' Library links point into this building.
National Freedom of Information Coalition (nonprofit, not government)
What you'll find: Every state has its own FOIA-equivalent (in Illinois, it's also called FOIA) covering state agencies, cities, school boards, and police departments. This directory links each state's law and process.
How to use it: Local records — police reports, school board budgets, city contracts — are usually state-law requests, not federal ones. Your city hall and school district are covered by these laws right now.
Most of what government does day to day isn't laws passed by Congress — it's rules written by agencies. Both are public while still in draft, and the public has a legal right to comment on proposed rules before they take effect. Almost nobody uses this right, which makes the few who do disproportionately loud.
Library of Congress
What you'll find: Every bill, every version, every vote, every member's sponsorships — the official record of the legislative branch.
How to use it: Our Bills pages are built on this. When someone describes what a bill 'would do,' the text and status here are the check — Bill Path taught you where to look for where it died.
National Archives + Government Publishing Office
What you'll find: The government's daily newspaper: every proposed rule, final rule, executive order, and official notice, published every business day since 1936.
How to use it: Search a topic you care about and you'll find rules being written about it right now — each one listing its comment deadline.
General Services Administration
What you'll find: The portal where public comments on proposed rules are filed and — importantly — published for everyone to read.
How to use it: Agencies must respond to substantive comments before finalizing a rule. A specific, factual comment from a person with real experience of the issue carries actual legal weight in the record. This is one of the least-known levers in American government.
U.S. Government Publishing Office
What you'll find: The authenticated official versions of federal documents: the U.S. Code, the Congressional Record, budgets, hearings, and court opinions.
How to use it: When you need to quote the actual law rather than a description of it, the authenticated PDF here is the citation that ends arguments.
Campaign money and lobbying are both legal — and both are required to be disclosed, precisely so citizens can weigh them. The disclosures are only worth anything if someone reads them. These are the primary sources our Lobbying pages are built from.
Federal Election Commission
What you'll find: Every federal campaign's contributions and spending, searchable by donor, candidate, committee, and employer.
How to use it: Search any federal candidate to see who funds them, in the original records. Individual donations above $200 are itemized by name, employer, and amount.
U.S. Senate
What you'll find: Quarterly filings from every registered lobbyist: who hired them, how much they were paid, and which issues and agencies they lobbied.
How to use it: Search a company or an issue. The filings are dry, but they answer 'who is paying whom to influence what' with names and dollar amounts.
U.S. House of Representatives
What you'll find: The House's copy of the same lobbying registrations and quarterly activity reports.
How to use it: Same filings, second source — useful when cross-checking, which Source Check taught you to do on principle.
Court proceedings are public by centuries-old tradition — justice done in the open is part of what makes it justice. Federal opinions are free; full case files sit behind a paywalled system with a free community workaround worth knowing about.
The Supreme Court
What you'll find: Every opinion the day it's issued, argument calendars, transcripts, and live audio of oral arguments.
How to use it: When a major ruling hits the news, the opinion itself is here within minutes — and the syllabus (the first few pages) is a readable summary written by the Court. Read that before reading anyone's hot take.
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
What you'll find: The docket and filings of every federal case — the actual complaints, motions, and orders.
How to use it: Charges 10¢/page (capped per document, and fees are waived below a quarterly minimum). When news says 'court documents show,' this is where those documents live.
Free Law Project (nonprofit, not government)
What you'll find: A free, permanent public archive of millions of federal court documents, contributed by PACER users, plus free opinion search and alerts.
How to use it: Check here before paying PACER — if anyone has bought the document before you, it's already free. A working example of citizens making public records actually public.
Every tool above was won, not given — FOIA passed over a president's objection, the Inspectors General were created after Watergate, and spending transparency was forced open statute by statute. Openness laws survive only while people use them. Using these windows — even once, even out of curiosity — is a civic act that keeps them open, and it is the daily, practical version of what every game in our Arcade drills: go to the record itself.
