Federal Agencies Move to Restrict FOIA Access
By AAN Staff
january 8, 2009 12:38 pm
"Over the past few months, some federal agencies have issued rules that would eliminate public disclosure of information -- or, in some cases, make it more difficult for requesters to get information," ProPublica reports. Agencies that have passed rules include the Department of Energy, the Department of Education and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press executive director Lucy Daiglish tells ProPublica that reversing these and other rules in favor of secrecy implemented by the Bush administration will be a huge task for the Obama administration. "Saying in his inaugural speech that this will be the most open and transparent government in history will make it easier for agencies to come in and do it," she says. In other secrecy news,
the House of Representatives passed legislation yesterday that would nullify Bush's 2001 executive order that limited access to records via the Presidential Records Act.
