FAS

Don’t Remove Gov’t Records, Departing Officials Are Told

11.20.08 | 1 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

Government officials were reminded recently that as they depart from government service with the end of the current Administration, they are not permitted to take classified information with them.

“Classified information is not personal property and may not be removed from the Government’s control by any departing official or employee. This includes ‘extra’copies.”

That timely warning (pdf) was issued by William J. Bosanko, the director of the Information Security Oversight Office, which oversees the national security classification system.

“This prohibition applies to all cleared officials and employees, regardless of type or level of position,” Mr. Bosanko wrote in a November 17 ISOO memorandum to senior executive branch agency officials.

Document removal is among the most pernicious forms of secrecy, as it is often undetected and irreversible.

publications
See all publications
Government Capacity
Blog
Direct File Is the Floor, Not the Ceiling

“The first rule of government transformation is: there are a lot of rules. And there should be-ish. But we don’t need to wait for permission to rewrite them. Let’s go fix and build some things and show how it’s done.”

08.06.25 | 5 min read
read more
Emerging Technology
Blog
Creating A Vision and Setting Course for the Science and Technology Ecosystem of 2050

To better understand what might drive the way we live, learn, and work in 2050, we’re asking the community to share their expertise and thoughts about how key factors like research and development infrastructure and automation will shape the trajectory of the ecosystem.

08.06.25 | 4 min read
read more
Emerging Technology
Blog
Why Listening Matters for Moonshot Programs: ARPA-I’s National Tour

Recognizing the power of the national transportation infrastructure expert community and its distributed expertise, ARPA-I took a different route that would instead bring the full collective brainpower to bear around appropriately ambitious ideas.

08.05.25 | 7 min read
read more
Emerging Technology
day one project
Policy Memo
Establish a Network of Centers of Excellence in Human Nutrition (CEHN) to Overcome the Data Drought in Nutrition Science Research

NIH needs to seriously invest in both the infrastructure and funding to undertake rigorous nutrition clinical trials, so that we can rapidly improve food and make progress on obesity.

08.04.25 | 12 min read
read more