semper scriben

observations by A.B. Howard

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Department of Justice misleads Americans about the true causes and costs of FOIA delays during Sunshine Week

For the first time in over a decade, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) celebrated Sunshine Week with a blog post, instead of a public event. In past years, a high-ranking DOJ official — often the DOJ Chief FOIA Officer – would make a speech, followed by the Director of the Office of Information Policy (OIP). The OIP director would make a presentation about the state of FOIA compliance…

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Embracing illiberalism, Trump administration withdraws from global Open Government Partnership

The official withdrawal of the United States from the Open Government Partnership formalized what advocates, scholars, and watchdogs have been telling the American people from the last year: under President Trump, the executive branch of the United States government is no longer committed to government transparency, accountability, participation, and collaboration with the American people it…

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Trump administration withdraws from global transparency and accountability partnership

The official withdrawal of the United States from the Open Government Partnership formalized what advocates, scholars, and watchdogs have been telling the American people from the last year: under President Trump, the executive branch of the United States government is no longer committed to government transparency, accountability, participation, and collaboration with the American people it…

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A welcome Hall of Fame moment

Some good professional news: Sixteen champions of government transparency will be inducted this March into the National FOIA Hall of Fame for their outstanding contributions to advancing the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. Honorees include Richard L. Huff, founding director of what is now called the Office of Information Policy, Michael Morisy, co-founder of MuckRock, Kirsten Mitchell and…

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Coalition asks Open Government Partnership to place the U.S. government under review

Photo of the White House during the Obama administration In March 2025, a coalition of organizations and individuals who work on government transparency and accountability in the United States respectfully requested the Open Government Partnership (OGP) to immediately place the United States government under review for actions contrary to the principles and policies of the partnership.  US Orgs…

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At Congressional Transparency, Caucus event, experts warn of increased secrecy & corruption

On June 10, 2025, the U.S. House Transparency Caucus hosted a discussion about current issues, promising proposals, and ongoing successes in government transparency in the Rayburn building. Our founder was present to record the event and pose questions. Video is embedded below.https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WjVGQyh7yco Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL-5), chair and founder of the Transparency…

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U.S. National Archives reminds all officials that public records on Signal must be preserved under the law

On April 25, 2025, the senior advisor to the acting Archivist of the United States (AOTUS) sent a memorandum to the heads of federal departments and agencies on the management responsibilities they have with respect to electronic messages that constitute public records. In the memorandum (below), Jim Byron, Senior Advisor to Secretary Marco Rubio, Acting AOTUS, reminds agencies the obligation…

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Why the Trump White House is neither the most transparent nor most accessible ever

188 years ago, President Andrew Jackson had a 1,400-pound block of cheddar cheese brought to the foyer of the White House and opened the People’s House to thousands of Americans to talk with him and his staff. That remains the “most accessible” White House ever. In 2025, the Trump White House isn’t disclosing visitor logs, ethics waivers, financial records, or presidential tax…

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Chief Records Officer of the United States says blog posts and (Signal) messages are public records

Back in 2019, in response to a complaint filed by the Center for Biological Diversity under the Information Quality Act challenging the scientific integrity of government communications, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claimed a blog post was not public information. “The EPA Blog is an example of information that would not be considered disseminated by the EPA to the public,” argued an…

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Letter to President Biden on how to restore trust in our union

This afternoon, our editor texted the following letter in response to President Joe Biden’s text about federal disaster response on Monday. The letter was drafted after the White House posted a historic memorandum on fighting Hurricane Helene falsehoods with facts. While the effort to use WhiteHouse.gov was worthy, the “opt-in texts” from POTUS referenced are woefully inadequate to the wicked…

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Why the Open Government Partnership is failing to have a positive impact in the United States

On Monday morning, I read Daniel Schuman’s excellent newsletter focused on the First Branch of the United States government, which included a section that collected several notable developments in the open government space. These updates include:  The launch of the General Services Administration (GSA) Open Government Secretariat’s new website. This website replaces the now defunct page at…

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Open Government Partnership IRM recommends US government revise approach

There are reasons to be hopeful about open government as the United States as the new year begins, but also cause for grave concern. In December 2023, researchers at the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) confirmed what good governance advocates have said since 2017: the federal government is still not meeting the standards for open government domestically…

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The Department of Justice's "FOIA Wizard" isn't a magical solution for White House strategic silence on open government

In December 2021, President Biden urged “every nation in the Open Government Partnership to take up a call to action to fight the scourge of corruption, to “stand with those in civil society and courageous citizens around the world who are demanding transparency of their governments,” and to “all work together to hold governments accountable for the people they serve.” Almost two years later,…

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New US Chief FOIA Officer’s Council memo on the future of FOIA, online

In August, the U.S. Chief Freedom of Information Act Officers Council issued a memorandum on the deadline for interoperability with FOIA.gov & sunset of FOIAOnline on September 30. The U.S. FOIA Advisory Committee discussed the memo at our public meeting on September 7, 2023. I’ve shared this memorandum and some analysis about what it means for the future of FOIA online over on the public US…

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White House "virtual listening session" on new OIRA guidance on broadening public engagement in rulemaking

This post contains an audio recording (above) of a public Zoom call held on July 20, 2023 to update Americans on select commitments in the 5th U.S. National Action Plan for Open Government, more than six months after the White House published the plan online at the end of December 2022. Officials at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Information and…

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July 12, 2023 US open government “virtual engagement session”

A audio recording of the Zoom call.

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Threats to transparency and election integrity in Mexico threaten democratic stability in the Americas

Imagine if senators were refusing to vote on a deputy attorney’s nomination, blocking the administration of the Freedom of Information Act at the Justice Department. Imagine if President Biden then proposed defunding the Office of Information Policy. Now, imagine if OIP didn’t just offer guidance and generated reports on FOIA but combined the functions of the National Archives, Justice…

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