With the Obama Administration, Freedom of Information Act difficult to use

The Freedom of Information Act in the US is still difficult to use, when trying to obtain government records despite President Barack Obama’s promise to reinvigorate the law and improve his administration’s transparency. The Obama Administration still maintains that it has made significant progress since 2009, when the president directed federal agencies to disclose more information rapidly and reduce their backlogs of requests for information by citizens, journalists, companies and others.

At a Senate Judiciary hearing, John Podesta, president of the progressive Center for American Progress, said, that federal agencies have not implemented Obama’s order aggressively enough. Podesta is a former White House chief of staff in the Clinton administration, and also stated there is evidence some agencies have reduced their backlogs of information requests through administrative maneuvering instead of providing the requested information.

Podesta has ties to Obama, as he once guided him through the presidential transition process after the 2008 election. Podesta has always been and advocate of government openness.

Sarah Cohen, a Duke University journalism professor testifying on behalf of the Sunshine in Government Initiative, said the law is difficult to navigate and useful only to the most patient and persistent journalists. Cohen credited Obama’s transparency goals but warned the reforms are tenuous. “Administrations change, and these actions can be reversed as quickly as they began,” she said.

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But Melanie Pustay, director of the Justice Department’s office of information policy, defended the administration’s record. Thomas Fitton of Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, said the Obama administration is less transparent than the Bush administration, saying that the Bush administration was tough and trickier, yet Obama’s Administration is tougher and more trickier.

Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the committee’s top Republican, also criticized the administration for failing to follow through on Obama’s pledge.

“There is a disturbing contradiction between Obama’s words and the actions of his top political advisers,” Grassley said.

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An AP analysis of new federal data this week found agencies took action on fewer requests for federal records last year even as significantly more people asked for information.