The National Security Archive (NSA) has released the results of a government-wide FOIA audit and has found that a majority of agencies have not complied with either the requirements of the 2007 amendments to the FOIA or the 2009 FOIA guidelines issued by Attorney General Eric Holder.
The Washington Post and the Examiner both have reports on the audit with comments from outside groups on they feel is needed to fix the problems. NSA's Nate Jones says that there needs to be a "Transparency Bulldog" and OpentheGovernment's Patrice McDermott is quoted as saying there needs to be a hammer to hold ageny's accountable.
As readers of the blog know, I have been advocating for a FOIA Tsar who has the muscle of the adminsitration behind him or her to help enforce the President's FOIA Memorandum and the Attorney General's Guidelines for years. This person's responsiblities would be to make sure that the requriements of the FOIA are followed and the transparency pledges of the President are actually followed. Now is the time for the administration to act.
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