The Congressional Research Service, which performs policy research and analysis for Congress, is “not a happy place these days,” said a CRS staffer. The staffer was referring to the fact that a respected CRS division chief, Morris Davis, had been abruptly fired from his position for publicly expressing some of his private opinions. (“CRS Fires […]
The Obama Administration is expected to provide some new insight this week into its emerging policy on “controlled unclassified information” (CUI), referring to unclassified information that is withheld from disclosure for reasons of law or regulation. Because of the indiscriminate use of such controls, information is often withheld unnecessarily from the public and information sharing […]
The Obama Administration’s new open government policy has begun to elicit a response from executive branch agencies. The Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, and other agencies issued news releases yesterday outlining the initial steps they are taking to fulfill the December 8 White House Open Government Directive (pdf). The White House Office of […]
The inadvertent disclosure of a “sensitive” Transportation Security Administration manual on procedures for screening airline passengers has prompted renewed interest in legal remedies and penalties that may be available to the government to minimize the impact of such unauthorized disclosures. In a letter (pdf) to the Department of Homeland Security yesterday, several Republican lawmakers asked: […]
by Ivanka Barzashka We have posted an updated version of our latest Issue Brief “Calculating the Capacity of Fordow” – the technical appendix to our November 23 article “A Technical Evaluation of the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant” published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. This is the document summary: This brief serves as a […]
In a conscious and far-reaching attempt to change the culture of secrecy that prevails within many government agencies, the Obama Administration today issued a directive (pdf) that orders each federal agency to establish an open government program with mandatory new information disclosure obligations as well as opportunities for public participation. Moving beyond the familiar rhetoric […]
In mid-January 2009, in advance of the inauguration of President Obama, a radiological survey of downtown Washington, DC was conducted at the request of the Secret Service. No statistically significant man-made radiological activity was detected in the survey. Typical variations in natural background radiation were found, along with slightly elevated readings at the National World […]
At a time when U.S. news organizations are shedding jobs at an alarming rate, the People’s Republic of China has been hiring a growing number of reporters from outside of China. “Since July of this year, Xinhua’s English-language service– China’s official news service for English-language audiences — has hired several experienced Western journalists to serve […]
The Director of the Congressional Research Service fired the chief of its Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Division after he criticized Obama Administration policy on prosecuting Guantanamo detainees in a Wall Street Journal op-ed last month. Morris Davis, a former chief prosecutor at Guantanamo who has been at CRS for the past year, argued that […]
According to a new U.S. Army field manual, when a soldier is about to throw a hand grenade at any enemy target he should normally follow the specified procedures and assume one of five authorized positions (standing, kneeling, etc.). However, “If a Soldier can achieve more distance and accuracy using his own personal style, he […]
Government secrecy is becoming an increasingly popular field of inquiry in academic circles, with several upcoming conferences and journals devoted to the subject. The journal “Research in Social Problems and Public Policy,” edited by Susan L. Maret, has issued a call for papers on “the problem of government secrecy,” including theoretical and comparative treatments. The […]
Many of the procedural safeguards that are provided to a defendant in a criminal trial are not available to those tried in military commissions, or are present in attenuated or modified form. Thus, for example, military commissions offer no right to a speedy trial and may allow hearsay into evidence. These and numerous other distinctions […]