Justice Department proposes change to Freedom of Information Act that facilitates hiding records

The Justice Department has proposed a rule change for the FOIA to allow government agencies to deny that records do not exist when they do. As it stands now the government can withhold information and issue a Glomar denial that says they neither confirm nor deny the records exist. Open government advocates say that the [...]

Presidential order seeks uniformity in handling unclassified information

President Barack Obama ordered government agencies to conduct more open and uniform practices in handling unclassified data subject to exemptions from full exclosure. -db The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press November 5, 2010 By Stephen Miller President Barack Obama released an executive order Thursday calling for a more open and uniform approach to [...]

Federal transparency: Changes in administration raise questions

Transparency advocates are wondering if recent changes in Obama administration management mean that Obama is stepping back from his commitment to open government. -db NextGov August 16, 2010 By Aliya Sternstein As the Obama administration gently pushes agencies to follow their transparency plans, recent changes in key management positions at the White House have watchdog groups [...]

Transparency survey ranks NASA on top and the Department of Justice on the bottom

An independent audit of the open government plans of  federal government agencies showed that NASA, HUD and EPA had performed well and DOJ and OMB poorly. The performance of the Office of Management and Budget disappointed the auditors since the agency is spearheading Obama’s transparency initiative. -db OMB Watch Press Release May 3, 2010 WASHINGTON, [...]

Open government advocates find much to like in latest federal plans for transparency

The Obama administration plans for implementing their Open Government Directive has received much praise with the reservation that some federal agencies seem more committed to transparency than others. -db The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press April 9, 2010 By Miranda Fleschert Federal agencies unveiled open government plans this week as required by the [...]

Obama administration balks at releasing statistics online

In accordance with new government directives on transparency, federal agencies sent the Office of Management and Budget nearly 300 data sets on Jan. 22, but the Obama administration has withheld a number of the sets. -db NextGov January 27, 2010 By Aliya Sternstein The Obama administration has declined to post, and in some cases has [...]

Obama administration removes some public comments from transition Web site

Open government advocates fear the Obama administration may be retreating from stated goals of making government more transparent by removing some online public dialogues from Change.gov. -DB NextGov December 4, 2009 By Aliya Sternstein Open government advocates have criticized the Obama administration for removing some public comments it collected on a site developed for the presidential [...]

Report card on government secrecy now available

Openthegovernment.org has released a “secrecy report card” that shows only limited changes in operations over the last year to withhold government information from the public. -DB Secrecy News Federation of American Scientists September 8, 2009 By Steven Aftergood The vast apparatus of government secrecy persisted through the last year with only limited changes in the contours [...]

Pentagon admits ‘arrogance’, promises more openness

The Joint Chief of Staff Chairman has called for the Pentagon to exhibit greater openness, but military officials say they plan no changes in policy based on the chairman’s comments. -DB Stars and Stripes Analysis September 3, 2009 By Leo Shane III WASHINGTON, D.C. — Media critics for years have blasted the military for its heavy-handed [...]

Public denied details of bids for failed banks

Banking insiders are wondering why the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is no longer disclosing information on bids for failed banks. The information is needed to formulate future bids and should be available under the Freedom of Information Act. -DB American Banker August 24, 2009 By Marissa Fajt For decades, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. disclosed all [...]