Attorneys at the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel violated the executive order on classification and damaged oversight of the secrecy system last year when they refused to process a request from the Information Security Oversight Office for an interpretation of the order, according to a complaint filed yesterday (pdf) by the Federation of American […]
The Director of National Intelligence has issued a new performance management policy (pdf) that will require regular evaluations of the performance of all U.S. intelligence community employees. The new policy will include “the evaluation of IC employees on their results (in other words, ‘what’ they achieve)” as well as “the manner in which they achieved […]
Updated below On December 31 President Bush signed into law the “Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National (OPEN) Government Act of 2007,” which amends the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The new law makes several constructive procedural changes in the FOIA to encourage faster agency response times, to enable requesters to track the status of […]
The National Security Agency published a notice today describing its Power Upgrades Project, which is intended to meet the Agency’s growing demand for electrical power and to replace aging electrical infrastructure. “The proposed utility upgrades would allow for 100 percent self-contained redundancy, should off-site power sources fail,” according to the January 2 Federal Register notice. […]
A good map can tell you where you are and show you how to get to where you want to go. What could be more important? A recent U.S. Army Field Manual (large pdf) explains the rudiments of map reading. But distribution of the manual is restricted, and it has not been approved for public […]
Establishing civilian control of intelligence and security services is a challenge and a crucial milestone for any aspiring democracy. Among other post-Soviet countries of Eastern Europe, Ukraine has made some remarkable strides in this direction. “As Ukraine continues the process of democratic consolidation, the issue of intelligence oversight remains vital, to ensure political accountability and […]
Noteworthy new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following (all pdf). “Tanzania: Background and Current Conditions,” December 20, 2007. “Data Mining and Homeland Security: An Overview,” updated December 5, 2007. “Polygraph Use by the Department of Energy: Issues for Congress,” updated December 10, 2007. “Egypt: Background and U.S. Relations,” updated December […]
U.S. government regulations that limit disclosures of certain scientific and technical information to foreign nationals — known as “deemed exports” — are obsolete and need to be replaced, according to a new advisory committee report (pdf). More broadly, however, the new report reflects the growing realization that government secrecy policies have become counterproductive and need […]
If a new information security policy emerges, it’s not likely to come from the Central Intelligence Agency, which still adheres to the coldest of cold war secrecy policies. Due to CIA classification restrictions, a new State Department documentary collection on The Intelligence Community, 1950-1955 suffers from significant, basic omissions. “Between the fiscal years ended June […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf). “U.S. Arms Sales: Agreements with and Deliveries to Major Clients, 1999-2006,” December 20, 2007. “Overview of Education Issues and Programs in Latin America,” December 19, 2007. “Nuclear Weapons: The Reliable Replacement […]
Updated below This week marks one full year since publication of the latest print volume of the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series, the official documentary record of U.S. foreign policy which dates back to the Abraham Lincoln Administration. Publication of FRUS is required by law (Public Law 102-138) and is supposed to […]
Open government advocates hailed the passage of procedural amendments to the Freedom of Information Act that are intended to improve government responsiveness to FOIA requests and to strengthen the hand of requesters. The OPEN Government Act, which cleared both the Senate and the House over the past week, “becomes the first major reform to the […]