Holding Government Accountable

Impeachment Inquiry: A tough, but inevitable, pill for Trump given track record

More than a battle of the wills between the executive and legislative branches of our government, an impeachment inquiry is a process backed by the Constitution to hold the president   Read Full

October 4, 2019

New Bipartisan FOIA Bill Punches Back at Attacks

Bill will protect public access to information from private entities that do business with the government following Supreme Court decision. The new Open and Responsive Government Act of 2019, introduced   Read Full

July 23, 2019

Facial Recognition Technology Regulation: A Practical Guide for Congress

Facial Recognition Technology Regulation: A Practical Guide for Congress

The dearth of accountability safeguards as government agencies acquire facial recognition technologies prompted Open The Government and a growing list of civil society groups to urge Congress to swiftly regulate   Read Full

July 19, 2019

Enough with Congressional Hearings on Facial Recognition: Pointers to Regulate the Technology

Recent news headlines about federal agencies using facial recognition technology to scour state databases around the country for Americans’ driving licenses without their knowledge or permission is rightfully drawing the   Read Full

July 16, 2019

CIA’s Expansion of “covert agent” definition would weaken oversight and accountability

CIA lobby seal

Section 305 (Division A) of S. 1589, the Intelligence Authorization Act for FY 2018, 2019, and 2020, would expand the definition of “covert agent” for purposes of prosecution under the   Read Full

June 27, 2019

Supreme Court’s Decision in First FOIA Case Fails to Defend the Public’s Right to Know

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 today in favor of denying the public’s access to government spending information in the Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media case that brought to fore the   Read Full

June 24, 2019

Defense Department’s Gag Rule Memo Spurs Letter Urging Office of the Special Counsel to Investigate

Open The Government and the Government Accountability Project sent a letter to the Office of the Special Counsel today urging the agency to investigate the Department of Defense’s new policy   Read Full

May 22, 2019

More Than a Dozen Organizations Urge Defense Department to Reverse Decision to Limit Afghanistan War Reports

A cross-section of organizations signed a letter late last week to acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan calling for a reversal of the military’s decision to stop collecting and releasing important   Read Full

May 13, 2019