A coalition of public interest groups asked the Senate and House Intelligence Committees to preserve an existing requirement for the Intelligence Community to produce an annual report on the number of security clearances. “We believe the annual report on security clearances provides exceptional value to the public and should continue to be published,” the groups […]
Thousands of Americans who have a gross annual income of more than a million dollars have also been collecting unemployment benefits, according to IRS data compiled in a new report from the Congressional Research Service. That description fits only a tiny fraction of a percent of those receiving unemployment benefits, and is obviously not typical […]
Ordinarily, critics of government secrecy focus their ire — and their strategy — on executive branch agencies that refuse to release certain national security-related information to the public. But to an extent that is not widely recognized or understood, it is Congress that has erected barriers to greater openness and has blocked efforts to improve […]
The Department of Justice told Congress recently that it would not disclose the number of state secrets cases involving alleged government misconduct, if any, that have been referred to an Inspector General for investigation. Under a revised state secrets policy that was announced by Attorney General Holder in 2009, the Department committed to referring credible […]
The number of polygraph examinations performed by the Department of Defense more than doubled over the past decade to over 43,000 tests in a one-year period, according to a study performed last year for the Under Secretary of Defense (Intelligence). The large majority of the tests were for pre-employment or periodic reinvestigation employee screening purposes. […]
In a floor statement yesterday, Sen. John McCain reiterated his criticism of the Obama White House for allegedly leaking classified information that endangered national security, and he repeated his call for appointment of a special counsel to independently investigate the claims. Sen. McCain cited a particular incident in 2009 described by David Sanger of the […]
The Congressional Research Service has not been authorized to publicly release the following new and updated reports. China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities — Background and Issues for Congress, July 31, 2012 Organization of American States: Background and Issues for Congress, July 31, 2012 Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress, […]
Correction added below The anti-leak provisions proposed by the Senate Intelligence Committee in the pending FY2013 intelligence authorization act have been widely criticized as misconceived and ill-suited to achieving their presumed goals. But they also suffer from a lack of clarity and an absence of definitions of crucial terms. For example, there is no clear […]
New products of the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include these: Major U.S. Arms Sales and Grants to Pakistan Since 2001, July 25, 2012 Direct Overt U.S. Aid and Military Reimbursements to Pakistan, FY2002-FY2013, July 27, 2012 Georgia [Republic]: Recent Developments and U.S. Interests, July 13, 2012 […]
The Senate Intelligence Committee markup of the FY2013 Intelligence Authorization Act, which was officially filed yesterday, devotes an entire title including twelve separate provisions to the issue of unauthorized disclosures of classified information, or leaks. But several of those provisions aim to disrupt the flow of unclassified information to the press and the public rather […]
Newly updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has not authorized for broad public distribution include the following. U.S. Trade and Investment Relationship with Sub-Saharan Africa: The African Growth and Opportunity Act and Beyond, June 26, 2012 The Global Climate Change Initiative (GCCI): Budget Authority and Request, FY2010-FY2013, July 27, 2012 Navy Force […]
A persistent controversy involving allegations of overclassification reached a new level of intensity on Friday when the National Security Agency released its explanation for the disputed classification of an NSA email message that was used to support an Espionage Act prosecution. Also cleared for release on Friday was the 2011 complaint filed by former secrecy […]