Tester Launches Senate Transparency Caucus to Shed More Light on Federal Government

To Celebrate Sunshine Week, Senator Invites All 99 Colleagues to Make Government More Transparent and Accountable

(Big Sandy, Mont.) – U.S. Senator Jon Tester today is launching the Senate Transparency Caucus to shed more light on federal agencies and hold the federal government more accountable to taxpayers.

Tester has invited all 99 U.S. Senators to join the Transparency Caucus, which will focus on identifying policies to increase public access to information, reduce bureaucratic hurdles to accessing public documents, and strengthen disclosure requirements for public officials.

“By bringing Democrats, Republicans, and Independents together on the Senate Transparency Caucus, we can give members of the public greater access to their government,” Tester said. “This caucus will work to identify even more ways to shed light into the dark corners of our federal government, and hold each federal agency more accountable to taxpayers.”

To celebrate Sunshine Week, Tester has been introducing legislation to increase transparency across the federal government, and was recognized as one of the most transparent members of the U.S. Senate by the American Library Association.

Tester introduced the Public Online Information Act, which will make all public records from the Executive Branch permanently available on the Internet in a searchable database at no cost to constituents.

Tester also sent a letter to President Trump earlier this week encouraging him to work with Republicans and Democrats to increase transparency in our democratic process.

Tester is also sponsoring multiple bills to increase transparency in political campaigns. He was the first Senator in history to post his daily public schedule online.

Tester’s letter to all 99 U.S. Senators inviting them to join the Senate Transparency Caucus is available HERE.