At the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, “The original classification of information is rarely necessary,” according to an October 2010 ODNI Instruction. But that’s because most relevant information is already classified. There is not much need for new classification activity.
Several recent ODNI Instructions that govern the administration of the classification and declassification programs within the Office were released this week under the Freedom of Information Act (all pdf):
“Classification of ODNI Information,” ODNI Instruction 80.12, October 25, 2010.
“Original Classification Authority Delegation,” ODNI Instruction 80.16, October 21, 2010.
“ODNI Director, Information Management,” ODNI Instruction 10.20, May 18, 2009.
“Particular care should be exercised to avoid both over and under classifying ODNI information,” the Instructions say.
January saw us watching whether the government would fund science. February has been about how that funding will be distributed, regulated, and contested.
This rule gives agencies significantly more authority over certain career policy roles. Whether that authority improves accountability or creates new risks depends almost entirely on how agencies interrupt and apply it.
Our environmental system was built for 1970s-era pollution control, but today it needs stable, integrated, multi-level governance that can make tradeoffs, share and use evidence, and deliver infrastructure while demonstrating that improved trust and participation are essential to future progress.
Durable and legitimate climate action requires a government capable of clearly weighting, explaining, and managing cost tradeoffs to the widest away of audiences, which in turn requires strong technocratic competency.