Library of Congress Report: Information Technology Strategic Planning: A Well Developed Framework is Essential to Support the Library’s Current and Future Information Technology (IT) Needs The Library of Congress Office of the Inspector General. Library-Wide Report No. 2008-PA-105 March 2009. “The intent of this review was to access the effectiveness…
Articles Posted in U.S. Federal Government Information
Brennan Center Report Grades Obama Administration on its Transparency Efforts
The Brennan Center at NYU Law School just released a report grading the Obama Administration on its transparency efforts.* There is a report card and a longer report at this link. http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/report_card_table _____________________________ * The above information is from an e-mail sent by Barbara Brandon of the University of Miami…
OMB Watch: Summaries of the First 100 Days of the Obama Administration
OMBWatch has posted four useful documents summarizing the Obama Administration’s record at 100 days.* The first link is an assessment of improvements on the right to know front. The second link is to a brief YouTube summary on the topic from Washington NGOs. http://www.ombwatch.org/files/obamaat100daysrtk.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp6AXSVBTR8&fmt=18 The second assessment is on…
Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania Announces Switch to Democratic Party
Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, a Republican since 1966, said on Tuesday April 28 that he will switch to the Decmocratic Party and will run as a Democrat in 2010, thus presenting Democrats with a possible 60th vote and the power to break Senate filibusters. Here is a link to…
Legal Memoranda and Commentary On Issues Related to Interrogation and Torture
In response to litigation brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Obama administration authorized the Justice Department to release four secret legal memoranda used by the Bush administration to justify torture. The memoranda were releasd on April 16, 2009. President Obama also issued a statement, emphasizing that “this…
Social Security Administration: Fugitive Felons Serving As Representative Payees
The Office of the Inspector General of the Social Security Administration (SSA) has prepared an audit report, Fugitive Felons Serving As Representative Payees. March 2009. The Report consists of a review and analysis of representative payee issues within the SSA. To conduct the review, a file of fugitive records was…
All Charges Dropped Against Former Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska
The U.S. Justice Department moved on Wednesday April 1 to drop all charges in the case against former Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska. In a federal court on Wednesday Justice Department lawyers explained that in addition to earlier disclosures they discovered further evidence of misconduct that raised questions about the…
Documents Introducing the Obama Administration Public-Private Partnership Investment Program
On Monday March 23, 2009 the Obama administration presented the details of the Public-Private Invetment Program as a major initiative to help stimulate the U.S. economy. Below are links to four documents which were prepared to help introduce this program. Press Briefing by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Plans to…
New FOIA Guidelines Issued In Memorandum By U.S. Attorney General Holder
In his memorandum of March 19, 2009 to heads of executive departments and agencies, Attorney General Holder rescinds former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft’s October 12, 2001 memorandum which states that records could be witheld by the Department of Justice “unless they lack a sound legal basis or present an…
Q&A: To What Extent and Under What Conditions Are Congressional Research Reports Official Documents? *
Q\UESTION:: In a recent e-mail, someone from Canada asked asked how she could obtain an “official copy” of a Congressional Research Service report, “one from Congress,” not one from the website of an organization such as the Federation of American Scientists. The responses which follow are very interesting; they address…