Senior Policy Analyst at the Project on Government Oversight
Joined April 2009
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I guess we should have included a recommendation that they shouldn't engage the public about inclusiveness through a closed, secretive process. But I kind of thought it would have been obvious...My mistake.
SMH b/c #OIRA sought comments on how to engage the public via a shielded announcement & without any transparency into the comments received. No Federal Register notice and not via regulations.gov. This process = unengaging! whitehouse.gov/omb/informati…
So the REINS Act wants to put Congress in charge of approving all major regulations. Because when you ask people to think of efficient governing and objective decision-making they automatically think of the U.S. Congress....wait a second, that's not right.
Some great testimony here. Wish you could have been there in person to help Professor Hammond provide some reason to the hearing.
"The REINS Act is a radical threat – one of the most radical in generations – to our government’s ability to protect the public from harm."
Check out written testimony submitted by @Public_Citizen's @BitsySkerry.
citizen.org/article/the-rein…
So happy that my rep @marygayscanlon is making some good common sense points opposing the REINS Act and about the reality that Congress already has plenty of regulatory oversight that it simply doesn't use much. It would be a huge mistake to make them gatekeepers for major regs
Professor Hammond is doing a great job. Clear and direct about how the REINS Act will make the regulatory process worse and undercut important protections that save lives.
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Apparently a big concern among supporters of REINS Act is that agency officials who write regs are unelected and that somehow that means they are unaccountable. But they are constrained but administrative laws and can be taken to court (and often are) if they overreach.
A witness just claimed that agencies are only "technically" part of the executive branch. That they are effectively a new fourth branch unaccountable to even the executive branch. This must be news to the President.
Regulatory process may be boring to most people but it is an important component of governing.
judiciary.house.gov/committe…
Sean Moulton retweeted
We're watching this hearing this morning.
These attacks on regulation are wrong, misguided, and harm ordinary people.
judiciary.house.gov/committe…
Making the frustrations of #FOIA funny! If this works, we should all start working on our music video skills.
Today’s @washingtonpost @tiktok_us brought to you by @dataeditor and FOIA officers vm.tiktok.com/RskboY/
This is a straight-forward fix of #FOIA with bipartisan support. Thanks for the quick action on these issues, let's keep it going and #FixFOIA
Grassley, Leahy, Cornyn And Feinstein Introduce Bipartisan Bill To Reinforce Transparency In Wake Of The Supreme Court’s #FOIA Decision And Recent Regulations -- leahy.senate.gov/press/grass…
So true and so unfortunate. Whistleblowers stand up for what is right and the run the very real risk of somehow ruining their reputation in the process. #POGOchat
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Sean Moulton retweeted
On now: Access and Transparency -- Records held at the National Archives @USNatArchives youtube.com/watch?v=sPjK34wH… #FOIA #SunshineWeek
True and they usually call it exemption 5. Technically ex 5 is inter- or intra- agency docs that wouldn't be released in litigation. But in reality it has become a black hole down which bad agencies can dump anything they want. #FOIA #SunshineWeek teapawt.net/j_la28/status/97359065…
From the @irworkshop archives: "'45 years of experience show...there is an unwritten 10th exemption...'We don’t want to give it to you.'” #10thexemption #sunshineweek investigativereportingworksh…
I think the Senators would have a better idea of how far we have to go on #FOIA and what we should be doing if they included a panel of non-government witnesses. Just talking to gov folks (even with GAO and OGIS there) only gives you half the picture. #SunshineWeek teapawt.net/LaurenLeHarper/status/…
.@CoryBooker thanks the witnesses, notes that we have a way to go in setting a global example in #FOIA judiciary.senate.gov/meeting… Happy #SunshineWeek, everyone
The DOJ policies and guidelines may still be the same, BUT that doesn't mean that all of the agencies are still implementing them the same. teapawt.net/digiphile/status/97358…
Has @TheJusticeDept's litigation on FOIA changed in the @realDonaldTrump administration?, asks @TedCruz.
@FOIAPost: relying on 2009 FOIA memo, which was codified by FOIA Improvement Act. Cf. "presumption of openness." Pustay testified DoJ approach remains the same. #SunshineWeek
Sadly so true. There are large portions of the government where #FOIA rarely works as intended. #SunshineWeek #Eclipse teapawt.net/a_marshall_plan/status…
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Has #SunshineWeek been rebranded as Shameless Irony Week? teapawt.net/bradheath/status/97356…
DOJ says releasing resignation letters of U.S. attorneys - among the federal government's most powerful law enforcement officials - would be a "clearly unwarranted invasion" of their privacy, so they must remain secret. Happy #SunshineWeek.
While I understand DOJ's need to emphasize the positive aspects of the past year's #foia work, they really should use an opportunity like these #SunshineWeek hearings to also underscore the biggest challenges and problems encountered. It would get them more credibility. teapawt.net/LaurenLeHarper/status/…
DOJ's blind insistence #FOIA is working great is part of the reason it won @NSArchive's RoseMary award for worst performance in #opengov not once but twice #SunshineWeek