Senators Graham (R-SC) and Lieberman (I-CT) have now attached their amendment to exempt photos of detainees in U.S. custody from the Freedom of Information Act to a bill meant to enable the FDA to regulate tobacco.  Please contact your Senator today and urge them to not support this amendment and stress the importance of FOIA.

Since my last post on this issue, I’ve discussed the topic with a few different people and wish to clarify some things. I think that Congressional transparency is a good thing, currently anemic, and that efforts such as this one by Pelosi represent positive positioning by Congress on the subject. However, there is little information concerning the form the data from the government will be released in and I’m sure those who received Pelosi’s letter are figuring out that process now.

On June 3, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered the House’s administrative manager to put Congressional quarterly expense reports online as soon as possible.  These reports, traditionally available only in the form of three-volume bound sets, contain expense data for member spending.  The letter from Pelosi can be found on the Speaker’s blog, The Gavel, and represents an unprecedented level of Congressional transparency…if they do it right.

A report yesterday from Bureau of National Affairs (subscription required) cites several unnamed congressional sources saying the House plans to revive a statutory pay-as-you-go budget law in June. Statutory pay-go would require budgetary offsets for increases in permanent spending programs or tax cuts. Expect the measure to move through the lower house quickly, but resistance in the Senate, where lawmakers have questioned the effectiveness of the budget tool, is casting doubt on the measure's future.