Exempt from FOIA, US legislative support agencies follow uneven transparency standards

Reading room in the Library of Congress Jefferson Building. Source: https://www.house.gov/the-house-explained/legislative-branch-partners — Reading room in the Library of Congress Jefferson Building. Source: House.gov

Around the world, over one hundred nations have adopted freedom of information (FOI) laws that give their publics a right to request records from their governments. While these statutes are riddled with exemptions, marked by political interference, and often light on sanctions for those that block them, FOI laws remain essential tools for democratic governance everywhere they exist.

FOI laws have the greatest impact on transparency and accountability in states and nations where press freedom is strong and independent FOI ombudsmen and courts provide an adversarial venue where requesters can make appeals and challenge denials.

Sweden’s FOI law is the oldest in the world, passed in 1766. It wasn’t until July 4, 1966 that President Lyndon Johnson reluctantly signed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) at his ranch in Texas, codifying into law the American public’s right to access information from government agencies in the executive branch.

During the Trump administration, the number of FOIA requests, FOIA lawsuits, and records censored have all reached record levels, driven from a combination of non-responsive agencies, reduced proactive disclosure, and active litigation by civil society groups.

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Update on CRS Annual Reports

On Halloween we posted a spooky story on the disappearance of CRS’s Annual Reports. The annual reports to Congress explain what the agency has been doing the past year — and what it plans to do — and, for our purposes, contain some useful statistical data that we want for a report we are writing on how usage of CRS’s services have changed over time. The reports contain other information, such the priorities for the components inside CRS, management’s focus, and a list of all CRS reports issued that year.

The thing is, we were able to find CRS’s Annual Reports from 1971-1980, and from 1995 to present, but a huge tranche of the reports were missing. The October blogpost details everywhere that we (unsuccessfully) looked, including our efforts to go through unofficial and semi-official channels to obtain copies. Finally, we submitted this public records request to the Library on August 8, 2019. This Friday would have marked six months since our request. (Six months for documents that likely were originally publicly available, at least at the time of submission!) Continue reading “Update on CRS Annual Reports” →

Coalition Letters Urge House and Senate Committees to Expand Access to CRS Reports.

Earlier today, letters signed by 25 organizations were sent to the Committee on House Administration and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration urging them to address issues of congressional and public access to CRS reports.

Previously, Congress directed the Library of Congress to public current and archived CRS reports, but many of these reports are not made available to the public are not made generally available to Congress unless specifically requested and are not available from either the Library’s internal website or from its public-facing website.

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Capitol Police Round Up: Week Ending January 30, 2020

For the week ending January 30, 2020, there were 13 Capitol Police incidents reported; 22 individuals arrested. There were 10 traffic related incidents, including 1 DUI and 8 invalid permit arrests. Capitol Police arrested someone attempting to enter the Senate Gallery while it was in session on January 22. The individual refused to leave and injured both a Senate staffer and a Capitol Police officer in the process. Additionally, 10 individuals were arrested for crowding and obstructing the hall near 1236 Longworth House Office Building on Wednesday, January 22 at 12:36 pm.

Here’s how this week’s activity was distributed:

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Capitol Police Round Up: Week Ending January 23, 2020

For the week ending January 23, 2020, there were 11 Capitol Police incidents reported; 20 individuals arrested. There were 3 traffic related incidents, including 1 DUI and 2 invalid permit arrests. Multiple individuals were also arrested for disorderly conduct that included chanting, shouting, and dropping papers down the Rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building on Friday, January 17th around 2pm. There were no recorded arrests between January 19th and the 22nd.

Here’s how this week’s activity was distributed:

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Capitol Police Round Up: Week Ending January 16, 2020

For the week ending January 16, 2020, there were 10 Capitol Police incidents reported; 156 individuals arrested. There were 4 traffic related incidents, all involving invalid permit arrests. 147 individuals were also arrested for unlawful demonstration activities on the Rotunda steps of the Capitol Building on Friday, January 10th at 12:55pm. These arrests included actors Joaquin Phoenix and Martin Sheen, who were participating in Jane Fonda’s final DC Fire Drill Fridays protest.

Here’s how this week’s activity was distributed:

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Capitol Police Round Up: Week Ending January 9, 2020

For the week ending January 09, 2020, there were 8 Capitol Police incidents reported; 47 individuals arrested. There were 4 traffic related incidents, including 2 DUI arrests and 2 invalid permits. 40 individuals were also arrested for obstructing the flow of traffic near the Capitol Building at the intersection of First and East Capitol Streets, NE on Friday, January 3rd at 10:55am.

Here’s how this week’s activity compares to the average distribution:

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Capitol Police Round Up: Week Ending December 19, 2019

For the week ending December 19, 2019, there were 11 Capitol Police incidents reported; 36 individuals arrested. There were 4 traffic related incidents, 2 drug related arrests, and 2 separate cases of assault of a police officer. 26 individuals were also arrested for disruption in the Capitol Rotunda on Friday, December 13th.

See how this week compares to the rest of the year below:

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Capitol Police Round Up: Week Ending December 12, 2019

For the week ending December 12, 2019, there were 11 Capitol Police incidents reported; 12 individuals arrested. The incidents were primarily traffic related, with five consisting of invalid permits and four DUIs. One protester was arrested for disrupting the impeachment inquiry on Monday, December 9th at 9:23am in 1100 Longworth.

Here’s how this week’s activity compares to the average distribution:

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The Legislative Branch is More Than Congress

ELdl7i6X0AArPbC — Source: Daniel Schuman via Twitter

Chaplains, doctors, historians and architects are part of the unseen Legislative Branch. While most know about the House and the Senate, did you know the US Capitol Police takes up more than 10% of the Legislative Branch budget ($456 Million in FY 2019) and has 2300 employees?

This article starts a series highlighting the various offices within the Legislative Branch and the issues that should be considered – in particular the process to appoint the leaders of these various offices. Continue reading “The Legislative Branch is More Than Congress” →