The Sunlight Foundation is fighting moves to reduce the budget for federal transparency programs to $2 million from $34 million.
The cutback, contained in the Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act, has passed in the House of Representatives and awaits action in the U.S. Senate.
Among other things, the funding underwrites Web sites that allow the public to examine and track federal spending. Examples are USASpending.gov and Data.gov.
The foundation argues that the open government efforts increase public participation, save money and increase accountability.