Sunshine Week

[corizarek]

Happy belated Sunshine Week!

Thought you might be interested in a couple blog posts we issued last week: 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/03/19/building-more-open-government

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/03/21/agencies-abuzz-during-sunshine-week

We know agencies and NGOs alike were busy hosting and attending events, releasing records and reports, and writing blog posts of your own. We would love to see them -- please feel free to share here!

Thanks!

Cori Zarek

Corinna Zarek
Policy Advisor for Open Government
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

http://www.whitehouse.gov//open
@OpenGov

[Kevin Schmidt]

Hey Cori,

Cause of Action's Sunshine Week report examined the White House's involvement in the FOIA and document request process. We also posted a blog on the best of #FOIA on twitter.

http://causeofaction.org/grading-government-white-house-targets-document-requesters/

In our report's conclusion, we identify 3 ways this process can be improved. 

First, White House review should be strictly limited to “White House-originated” records, as set forth in the 1993 DOJ guidance.  The Office of White House Counsel should not be able to review documents and requests just because they include politically sensitive information.

 

Second, agencies should be required to inform requesters in writing whenever records are forwarded to the White House for review. There is ample precedent for this notification. Guidance from DOJ’s Office of Information Policy suggests that “[w]hen providing updates to requesters on the status of their requests, [agencies should] include information concerning ongoing consultations.”  Further, agencies are required to notify requesters when they forward Exemption 4-related records to business submitters pursuant to Executive Order 12600.

 

Lastly, agencies should be required to identify in their annual FOIA reports the total number of requests involving White House review, including the median processing time. Again, there is precedent for this.  Currently, agencies are required to report the total number of consultations they receive from other agencies, including the number of consultations they processed and that remain pending.

 

Kevin Schmidt

Cause of Action

http://causeofaction.org/

@CauseofActionDC