Reducing Secrecy

The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same? State Secrets

In September 2009 Attorney General Holder announced a new State Secrets policy that we and others in the openness and accountability community welcomed as an important step towards placing some much needed checks and balances on the use of the privilege. Even as we cheered the announcement, though, we noted that critical questions remained about how the policy would be implemented and judicial review of claims was still necessary. More than two years into the policy's implementation, we are beginning to get a sense of some of those answers. And it does not look good for open and accountable government.

06/22/2012

Rushing Leaks Legislation through Congress Threatens Openness and Accountability

UPDATED: WASHINGTON, D.C. – Advocates for open and accountable government are warning the leadership of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees not to follow through on their current plan to rush a bill to address recent leaks of classified national security information. Doing so would run a real risk of writing into law policies that not only do not work but also endanger other critical national priorities.

06/13/2012

Congress Should Carefully Consider Any Effort to Address Leaks of Classified Info

Last week the leadership of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees announced that they are working quickly to draft legislation to address leaks of classified information in order to have the language included in the final version of the Fiscal Year FY 2013 Intelligence Authorization bill.

06/12/2012

Congress and the Public Should Think Long and Hard about How to Handle Leaks of Classified Info

In response to recent leaks of highly-classified national security information, the leadership of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees have announced that they are working together to develop legislation that gives the federal government the tools it needs to stop leaks. The legislation will be added to the Senate's version of the annual intelligence authorization bill, and -- as the House already passed its version of the authorization bill -- be included in the final conference package that will be sent to the President before the end of the session. While Congress' goal of doing something to protect the US' legitimate secrets is honorable, their strategy for getting the bill to the President as quickly as possible could end up producing legislation that hurts other critical national interests.

06/07/2012

Partners Applaud Senate Passage of Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act

On May 9 OpenTheGovernment.org joined several coalition partners and other allies in applauding Senate passage of S.743, the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act. The bill would expand protections for federal employees who disclose wrongdoing and protect the public trust.

05/15/2012

CIA Sends a Response - Of Sorts - to Request to Withdraw Controversial Declassification Regulation

Last week the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) sent a brief reply to the National Security Archive saying that, as the

04/17/2012

What in the World of Government Secrecy

As we enter the heart of the campaign silly season we thought you all might like to take a break from news stories about candidate gaffes and polling trends. Below are some important stories from the last few weeks about the nature and effect of government secrecy that might you might have missed:

03/30/2012

Partners Join in Call to Declassify NIE on Afghanistan

Last week more than twenty organizations joined us in asking President Obama to declassify the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Afghanistan in interest of increasing the transparency of the Administration, and showing respect for informed public opinion.

03/20/2012

Groups Urge President to Reject "Unprecedented Level of Secrecy" in Trade Negotiation

On February 28, more than 20 organizations joined OpenTheGovernment.org is sending a letter to President Obama urging him to increase the transparency of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiating process. Despite the significant effect the pact may have on the way we live our lives by limiting our public protections, there has been no public access to even the most fundamental draft agreement texts and other documents.

03/06/2012

Groups to Obama: Reject "Unprecedented Level of Secrecy" in Trade Negotiation

More than 20 organizations concerned with openness, scientific integrity, and accountability joined OpenTheGovernment.org is sending a letter to President Obama urging him to increase the transparency of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiating process.

02/27/2012

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