Maybe there’s something in the water at the White House that makes people do dumb things when the Freedom of Information Act is the focus of decision-making. It appears the administration didn’t read all of the OPEN Government of 2007 after Congress passed it and President Bush signed it.
Otherwise, why is the administration apparently trying to include funding for new Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) established by the OPEN law at the Justice Department’ s Office of Information and Privacy, instead of at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
What’s wrong with that? Well, the OPEN government law specified NARA, not DOJ. Why would the White House prefer to have the office at DOJ? Good question. Sen. John Cornyn, R-TX, and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT, the original co-sponsors of OPEN, have asked the White House for an explanation. An OMB spokesman says the final Bush budget proposal has not yet been completed.
More to come on this issue, no doubt.
Sunshine Week
FOIA
Freedom of Information
Public Right to Know
Open Government
Big Government
Transparency
