Under the Radar Blog Archives Select Date… August, 2020 July, 2020 June, 2020 May, 2020 April, 2020 March, 2020 February, 2020 January, 2020 December, 2019 November, 2019 October, 2019 September, 2019

Sources: Obama transparency official stepping down

An official tasked with improving the operation of the Freedom of Information Act across the Obama Administration is resigning after less than a year on the job, several sources briefed on the move told POLITICO.

James Holzer took over last August as director of the Office of Government Information Services, which serves as an ombudsman between federal agencies and FOIA requesters. The office also conducts audits of agencies' FOIA operations and proposes ways to streamline those processes.

Two sources said Holzer is returning to a position at the Department of Homeland Security, where he worked before joining OGIS, a part of the National Archives.

Holzer was not immediately available for an interview. An Archives spokeswoman declined to comment, citing a policy of not discussing personnel issues.

The official's departure caught several close observers of transparency issues by surprise.

"It’s difficult to imagine that he wasn’t asked for at least a one-year commitment in order to take such a position so it's remarkable his tenure lasted no more than nine months," said Dan Metcalfe, director of the Collaboration on Government Secrecy at American University's law school.

While OGIS's efforts to mediate between requesters and agencies have been challenging, the unit has gotten high marks for its reviews of agency FOIA offices. "OGIS certainly has continued its superior work during the last nine months," Metcalfe said.

At the time of Holzer's appointment last year, some transparency advocates said they would have preferred that the administration select someone who had been a public champion of disclosure rather than a former agency FOIA officer, as Holzer was at DHS.

Legislation aimed at increasing OGIS's effectiveness and boosting its independence is contained in FOIA reform legislation that passed the House and Senate earlier this year. The measures are awaiting referral to a conference committee or a decision by one chamber to go along with the other's different version of the bill.