Open The Government

12/13/2021

NEW: We asked the Office of Special Counsel to investigate HHS's media policies. Its investigation found HHS violated federal law by gagged its scientists during the pandemic

Trump appointee Michael Caputo warned government employees last year not to speak with the media, records obtained by BuzzFeed News revealed.

11/09/2021

New: We interviewed Protect Democracy’s and Accountability 2021 contributor Anne Tindall on restoring accountability in Biden’s Department of Justice. . Listen on Anchor.fm or Spotify:
https://anchor.fm/open-the-government/episodes/Restoring-Accountability-in-Bidens-Justice-Department-e19qp9o

Anne Tindall, Policy Counsel at Protect Democracy and Accountability 2021 contributor is on for a chat about reform at the Department of Justice. In what areas has the department made progress so far, what areas are most in need of improvement? Hear why Tindall's action steps for DOJ include releasi...

11/09/2021

Reforming : What Will It Take? Our Freddy Martinez is back to discuss why it’s necessary to strengthen FOIA for the federal government and the public.

Freddy Martinez, Policy Analyst at Open The Government, is back to discuss one of the most vital tools of good governance, the Freedom of Information Act, and how Congress and the Biden administration can strengthen it. Martinez said the 2016 FOIA Improvement Act was a good first step, and addresses...

11/07/2021

Listen Now: Our interview with Open The Government's Freddy Martinez on attaining policing accountability

Freddy Martinez, Policy Analyst at Open The Government, discusses how transparency can improve policing accountability. According to Martinez, "ironically, the broad latitude we give to police to investigate crimes also affords them the secrecy to be one of the worst violators of public records laws...

11/06/2021

New: Listen to Open The Government’s podcast series highlighting 2021 recommendations. Available now on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/1NsS3nAnf61FFzrFesjw99
&
Anchorfm: https://anchor.fm/open-the-government

Welcome to the Accountability 2021 Perspectives podcast series, where we discuss the roadmap of federal reforms in Accountability 2021 - developed by good government advocates from across the political spectrum - to restore accountability in the federal government.

11/04/2021

New: Today, Open The Government and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington expressed strong support for
Senator Ben Cardin, Senator Patrick J Leahy and
Representative Jamie Raskin’s reintroduction of the Private Prison Information Act (S. 3164/H.R. 5853) to end private prisons secrecy.

The bill addresses lack of accountability surrounding private prisons, jails, and detention centers that house federal inmates Washington – Today, following Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), and Representative Jamie Raskin’s (D-Md) reintroduction of the Private Prison Informatio...

11/04/2021

For years, OTG, CREW & a broad coalition of organizations committed to civil liberties, human rights, and civil rights, have advocated for greater accountability from private facilities because of the direct impact of their work on the lives of detainees.

11/04/2021

Last week, more than two dozen organizations urged Congress to support the legislation:

https://openthegovernment.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/PPIA-Endorsement-Letter-2021.pdf

The PPIA was previously introduced in the House and Senate in 2019 following the coalition’s advocacy efforts on the issue.

11/04/2021

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee considers pertinent legislation, including the Securing Inspector General Independence Act. The bill will protect IGs by limiting the circumstances under which the President (or other agency) can fire them (for good cause), and after detailing for Congress the specific reasons why the IG is no longer able to fulfill their mission. Watch a video of the meeting.

11/04/2021

After a decade, Facebook is shutting down its facial recognition system. But the company and lawmakers must do more to protect users' images from being scraped by facial recognition technology companies such as Clearview AI.

Saying it wants “to find the right balance” with the technology, the social network will delete the face scan data of more than one billion users.

10/27/2021

New: Read our latest blog post on the threats Trump’s latest lawsuit poses to Jan 6 accountability, the right to information, executive privilege, and presidential records.

On Monday, October 19, 2021, former President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit to block the release of records detailing his communications leading up to and during the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Directed to the House Select Committee investigating the insurrection, the National Archives and Recor...

10/26/2021

‘In 2009, Bruce Alpert filed a freedom of information request. Twelve years later he got answers - after he had already retired.’ A classic example of why open government advocates continue to push for a major reset on how agencies interpret and administer

NPR's Asma Khalid speaks to reporter Bruce Alpert about a Freedom of Information request he filed 12 years ago for a story. And he got his response nine days ago - after he'd already retired.