About
The Center for Federal Accountability (CFA) was chartered to restore the adversarial relationship between the Citizen and the State. We stand on the shoulders of the inspectors, muckrakers, and auditors who came before us.
The Constitutional Necessity
The authority to govern is not assumed; it is enumerated. When the Founders drafted the Constitution, they did not rely on the "goodwill" of administrators. They relied on structural tension.
In Federalist No. 51, James Madison wrote: "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition." The Constitution itself establishes this adversarial framework. Article I, Section 8 grants Congress the power of the purse. Article I, Section 9 (the Appropriations Clause) requires that "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law." Article II, Section 3 commands the President to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed." Article III vests the judicial power to review executive actions.
The CFA exists to be that counter-ambition. We enforce the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. § 552), the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. § 552a), and the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. § 551 et seq.) as the statutory foundation of transparency.
Our Historical Model
We are not the first to recognize that government cannot audit itself. The "Muckrakers" of the early 1900s—Ida Tarbell, Upton Sinclair, Lincoln Steffens—proved that investigative journalism could force accountability when official channels failed.
We model our operational doctrine on the Truman Committee (1941). Harry Truman drove thousands of miles to construction sites and factories. He did not rely on the War Department's reports. He looked at the concrete. He checked the books. His committee saved the taxpayer billions.
"I am not interested in the 'why' or the 'how much.' I am interested in the 'what.' Show me the steel. Show me the contract."
— Operational Philosophy of the AuditThe CFA applies this same "boots-on-the-ground" philosophy to the digital age. We do not accept the Agency's press release. We download the database. We read the source code. We verify the "steel."
The Founding of the Bureau
The Center for Federal Accountability was organized as a private, non-partisan research bureau to fill the oversight gap. We are structured as a private LLC, not a 501(c)(3) non-profit, to maintain absolute independence. We accept $0 in government funding. We are funded by subscriptions and corporate risk auditing services.
We are an Audit Bureau. We publish Indictments of Fact regarding how government does work. Our output is a set of findings that can be audited, cited, and litigated—because the underlying artifacts are public.
"Custodiet Ipsos Custodes"
Who Watches the Watchers?
See The Evidence
History provides the mandate. Data provides the proof. See how we triangulate the truth.