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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more news

Ashcroft Budges Slightly on Patriot Act Secrecy

After receiving sharp criticism, Attorney General John Ashcroft has decided to release a fragment of information available on how the USA Patriot Act is being used in libraries. This follows pointed words by Ashcroft, characterizing the concern voiced by those worried about library surveillance as “hysterics.”

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DHS CII Docket Published, Not User-Friendly

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) finally published public comments to the proposed Critical Infrastructure Information (CII) rule on its website. OMB Watch published the comments on our site Sept. 3 after DHS failed to post them according to its timeline. Although the comments are now publicly available through DHS, the entire dissemination process DHS followed has been poor and could set a bad precedent for the agency's future rulemakings.

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Administration Gains New Power to Withold 'Sensitive' Information

Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Bush administration moved to broadly restrict public access to information in the name of security. Federal agencies began summarily removing tens of thousands of documents from their web sites, purportedly because they might be useful in preparing another attack.

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Industry and Nonprofits Divided In Support for Proposed CII Rule

Comments submitted on the proposed Critical Infrastructure (CII) Rule by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) indicate disagreement between public interest groups and the private sector. OMB Watch posted the docket online last week when DHS failed to make them publicly available.

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OMB Watch Provides Access to DHS Comments

OMB Watch donated three hours so that public comments submitted to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding its proposed Critical Infrastructure Information (CII) rule are available for review electronically.

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Groups Demand Public Input in Writing "Sensitive But Unclassified" Procedures

Seventy-five organizations representing journalists, scientists, librarians, environmental groups, privacy advocates, and others today sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge calling on the Department of Homeland Security to allow public input on procedures for "safeguarding" and sharing a vaguely defined set of information between firefighters, police officers, public health researchers and federal, state, and local governments.

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Ashcroft on Tour to Defend Patriot

Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Bush administration appear to be feeling the growing public opposition to the USA Patriot Act. Rather than push safeguards and increase transparency, Ashcroft has hit the road in a publc relations campaign to convince the public that the Patriot Act is nothing to fear.

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Executive Order Assigns Information Sharing Development to DHS

The President issued an Executive Order July 29 that gives Secretary of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Tom Ridge authority to develop the information sharing functions under the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

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With Patriot III tour planned, Congress & lawsuits challenge Patriot Act

The Patriot Act faced serious challenges recently from Congress and the courts in what some are calling a turning point in the debate over the controversial law. Meanwhile, after running into attacks for Patriot II, Attorney General John Ashcroft plans a roadshow to gather support for Patriot III, legislation being prepared by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) that would further expand the federal government's powers.

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Report Documents Administration's Political Interference with Science

The Democratic staff of the House Committee on Government Reform recently released a report examining the Bush administration’s handling of scientific matters -- finding in many cases, that scientific integrity has been sacrificed to further a political or ideological agenda. The report, which came at the request of Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), finds “numerous instances where the administration has manipulated the scientific process and distorted or suppressed scientific findings.” For example:

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