Security and Secrecy

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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Administration Believes State Secrets is a Constitutional Privilege

Aug 4, 2009 by Roger Strother*

Last week, the Obama administration quietly filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court that gives us a glimpse into the president’s interpretation of executive branch power. Seemingly seeking to expand and protect this power, the administration argued that the state secrets privilege is “constitutionally rooted.”

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Court Rules that CIA Committed Fraud in State Secrets Case

On July 20, a federal district court judge ruled that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) committed fraud while attempting to get a fifteen-year-old case dismissed on state secrets grounds.

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OMB Watch Submits Recommendations on Handling Sensitive, Unclassified Information

On July 8, OMB Watch released a report that explores the impact of secrecy labeling practices within the federal government. The report, Controlled Unclassified Information: Recommendations for Information Control Reform, was submitted to the newly formed presidential task force established to review current policies and to reform the overuse of Sensitive but Unclassified (SBU) control markings.

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New Report Shines Light on Secrecy Labeling of Government Information

WASHINGTON, July 8, 2009—Today, OMB Watch published a report that explores the impacts of secrecy labeling practices within the federal government. The report, Controlled Unclassified Information: Recommendations for Information Control Reform, shines a light on how government withholds unclassified information from the American people and offers recommendations on how to balance the need to protect sensitive materials with the duty to disclose information to the public.

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Chemical Security Legislation Begins to Move Through Congress

The House Homeland Security Committee passed legislation June 23 that would greatly reduce the risks and consequences of a terrorist attack on a chemical facility. The bill also includes small but important improvements in the accountability of the nation's chemical security program. However, industry-sponsored amendments and the continued risk of excessive secrecy during implementation diminish the value of the bill.

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Chemical Security Bill Withstanding Industry Assault

Jun 19, 2009 by Brian Turnbaugh*

Today the House Homeland Security Committee continues its deliberations on a bill that improves security and accountability at chemical facilities. The bill, which would reauthorize and greatly enhance existing security procedures for chemical plants, has so far weathered well the repeated attacks by committee Republicans to gut it.

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Congress Working to Make Chemical Plants Safer from Attacks

Jun 18, 2009 by Brian Turnbaugh*

The House Homeland Security Committee this week considered legislation that would greatly reduce the risks and consequences of a terrorist attack on a chemical facility. The bill would enhance and reauthorize the flawed and inadequate existing security rules that are due to expire in October. It is crucial that Congress quickly pass and the President sign this security legislation so no more time is lost while millions of people are needlessly put at risk.

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Senate Quietly Passes Bill to Hide Torture Evidence

Jun 18, 2009 by Roger Strother*

On Wednesday night, the Senate quietly passed legislation to exempt photographs of detainees being tortured by U.S. personnel from the Freedom of Information Act. Further stunning the spirit of open government, they did so by unanimous consent.

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CIA Attempts to Block Release of Torture Report

Jun 17, 2009 by Chris George*

The Central Intelligence Agency is attempting to prevent the Obama administration from releasing a May 2004 Inspector General's report describing and evaluating the agency's treatment of detainees and interrogation practices, according to today's Washington Post. A redacted version of about 12 paragraphs of text was released in May 2008 as a result of an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit. The Obama administration promised a review of the IG report last month after the ACLU appealed the decision in that case.

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Torture Photo Disclosure Ban out of War Spending Bill but Still Possible

During the week of June 8, an amendment seeking to block disclosure of photos of abused detainees in U.S. custody was removed from the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009 (H.R. 2346). However, Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC), sponsors of the amendment, have pledged to insert the language into other legislation. Moreover, the release of the torture photos is the subject of a lawsuit that may reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

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