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DOJ Cited for Contempt of Openness by National Security Archive, Wins Rosemary Award

The Department of Justice was awarded the 2012 Rosemary Award by the National Security Archive -- for a multi-count indictment of Justice's transparency performance in 2011, including:

02/15/2012

CIA Changes the Rules Allowing the Public to Challenge Secrecy

Recently our friends over at the National Security Archive alerted us to a few pages in the Federal Register that describe the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) latest efforts to to stymie public access to information they want to keep secret.

02/10/2012

Groups Oppose Bill That Threatens to Cut Off Access to Taxpayer-Funded Research

On February 9, 30 organizations joined OpenTheGovernment.org in sending a letter to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee expressing strong opposition to the Research Works Act (H.R.3699), a bill designed to roll back a hard-fought-for policy that secured no-fee public access to NIH’s taxpayer-funded research, and also to block the development of similar policies at other federal agencies.

02/09/2012

10 Months In, Agencies Still Not Meeting Administration's Sunshine Week Commitments

Almost a full year after the Administration announced that agencies would make staff directories more available to the public, and that agencies would proactively post reports to Congress and testimony on their site, only 9 of 29 agencies that have substantively acted on the Administration's Open Government Directive have complied.

02/01/2012

OpenTheGov, POGO, and Allies Ask for Full Release of Crucial Information Regarding Camp Lejeune

January 24, 2012- WASHINGTON, D.C.--OpenTheGovernment.org, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) and allies are pressing the Pentagon and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to come clean about water contamination at the U.S. Marine Corps base, Camp Lejeune—where Marines, civilians, and their families were poisoned by the water they used and drank, but have yet to see justice after years of secrecy. Their plight was recently featured in the Academy Awards short-listed film, Semper Fi: Always Faithful, which documents the catastrophic effects of the contamination and resulting cover-up.

01/24/2012

FOIA.gov Fails to "Shine a Light"

Over a year and a half after the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that its Open Government Flagship Initiative would be to "launch a Web site that collects cross‐government data about agency [Freedom of Information Act] FOIA performance and presents it in an easy‐to‐understand, interactive format," the site, FOIA.gov, fails to meet that promise. Despite useful bells and whistles, the site is beset with technical glitches and low quality data.

01/17/2012

Are Agencies Releasing Less Information under President Obama?

A recent report we released with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) used data collected annually by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in agencies’ reports on Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) processing. This data is supposed to allow the public to assess the effect of the Obama Administration's FOIA policy on agency practice.

01/04/2012

Report: Obama Administration Makes Transparency Gains; Challenges Remain

An analysis by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and OpenTheGovernment.org of data collected by the government on Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) processing reveals challenges the Obama Administration must overcome to create the "unprecedented level of openness" President Obama promised on his first day in office.

12/15/2011

Policy and News Update for December 13, 2011

In This Issue:

News from Coalition Partners & Others
I. Groups Suggest Steps to Make Government More Open and Effective
II. Groups: No-cost Access to Rulemaking Records Necessary for Public Participation
III. FOIA Ombudsman Office Launches New Site, Still Waiting on OMB Approval to Release Recommendations

12/13/2011

"Records of Elected Political Officials Belong to the Public"

On December 6 Patrice McDermott, Director of OpenTheGovernment.org, appeared in a segment on CNN to discuss recent revelations regarding Mitt Romney's handling of records in his final days as Governor of Massachusetts.

12/07/2011

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