Posted on 03/17/2015 12:50:24 PM PDT by Citizen Zed
The White House’s new rules exempting an administrative office from being subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) have raised eyebrows among transparency advocates.
The FOIA allows citizens to obtain government documents from federal agencies.
In a Federal Register notice scheduled to publish on Tuesday morning, the action to exempt the Office of Administration is listed as a final rule, implying there will be no opportunity for public comment.
The notice highlights that the Executive Office of the President, Office of Administration, is removing regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations related to the status of records created and maintained by the Executive Office of the President. The action is justified as aligning Office of Administration Policy with well-settled legal interpretation of the Office of Administration’s status under federal law and executive orders.
The notice emphasizes that the Office of Administration, as an entity whose sole function is to advise and assist the President of the U.S., is not an “agency” under the Freedom of Information Act or the Privacy Act of 1974.
Much of White House operations are not subject to FOIA laws and regulations, including the offices of the president, vice president and immediate advisers. However, one of its largest offices, the Executive Office of the President must hand over certain documents when requested.
Before President Obama assumed office, a law uit was filed by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) after being denied access to documents it had requested to obtain details about emails that had gone missing from White House servers. Subsequently, the court upheld the ruling that the Office of Administration, which advises and assists the president, is not an “agency” as defined by the FOIA.
Though White House hasn’t released any Office of Administration records under FOIA, it used the ruling to defend its stance.
The latest notice comes at an ironic time – during Sunshine Week, in which government watchdogs promote and push for more democracy. The week with organizations pushing for government openness began on Sunday, with Monday observed as National Freedom of Information Act Day.
Reacting to the latest move, Anne Weismann of CREW said: “The irony of this being Sunshine Week is not lost on me”. She added: “It is completely out of step with the president’s supposed commitment to transparency. That is a critical office, especially if you want to know, for example, how the White House is dealing with e-mail”.
Last month, we carried a detailed analysis of how FOIA requests are generated, the kind of information commonly requested by institutional investors, and its costs. Interestingly, the analysis reveals FOIA requests facilitate institutional investors in generating abnormal portfolio returns and offered evidence indicating that FOIA information is not generally known to other investors in the marketplace.
I feel bad that black people who trusted him to represent their race well have to live with this legacy....tis the pits.
Yep, when there were more qualified people to represent them. But, that silver tongue, that obama has had his whole life, bedazzled half of America twice. Yes, what a legacy.
Nothing to see here.
Conservatives have long since worked out that sexual or moral sociopaths, like JFK and Obama, don't deserve the honor.
I was mostly referring to impeachment ... mostly.
Most transparent administration ever... Sort of ‘if you like your insurance, you can keep your insurance.’ Lies only his supporters would be surprised at.
But hey, going to be fun when we retake the White House.
I’m sure their leftist supporters will excuse this because of their assumption of inherent benevolent superiority of their political leaders.
It’s so Barry doesn’t have to turn over any emails from Hillary.
In order to keep the claim up they have none to turn over, and that they never knew of the problem.
Honestly do you think this would really bother them?
Of course it doesn’t.
Yea, and farts stink too.
The Cleaning of the Obama years starts
If something is transparent you can not see it. You can not see what this administration is doing therefore it is transparent. Now we will define “is” and “can keep” and “christian”.
Wasn’t there some community organizer joker running for president that had a political campaign TV ad that said “ The only people who don’t want to disclose the truth, are people who have something to hide “.
They have something to hide.
Struggle, You nailed it. Too bad Cankles’ server will never be recovered fully intact.
Sure- Why not? At this point, what difference does it make?
Some eyebrows, from the people who already know enough about 0. Go over to CNN and see if they care. If it doesn’t make CNN, only dedicated conservatives will know about it.
“Remember, kids, Freedom is Slavery, War is Peace, Outlawry is Leadership!”
Even if it did make CNN, nobody would know about it then, either.
You must have meant CBS or NBC. Somebody who actually has an audience.
If you haven’t got anything to hide...
The act of a nascent ditatorship!
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