Freedom of Information Act | First Branch Center

Congressional Security, Ethics and Influence, Modernization, Rules, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for July 29, 2019.

By DanielSchuman July 29, 2019 5 min read

The House is out for August recess; the Senate has one week to go. Here’s what you need to know for the week of July 29, 2019. SELECT COMMITTEE GRAND SLAM The Fix Congress Committee adopted two-dozen recommendations last week and also turned their May recommendations into H. Res 526. A super-majority of the committee is required to adopt recommendations; […]

Tags: Freedom of Information Act, debt limit, Science & Tech, Caucus Rules, Cybersecurity, Government Publishing Office

Appropriations, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Ethics and Influence, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for July 1, 2019.

By DanielSchuman July 1, 2019 7 min read

CONGRESS IN BRIEF • Only 36 (working) days are left for Congress to pass all 12 spending bills, so why is McConnell pressing pause on the approps process? More below. • 90% of House offices either don’t pay their interns or — more likely — failed to announce they have paid internships in job postings on their websites. • The […]

Tags: Office of Legal Counsel, Freedom of Information Act, Staff Pay, Foreign Lobbying, House Ethics Committee, SCOTUS, Whistleblower Protections

Accountability and Oversight, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for April 22, 2019. What happens next?

By DanielSchuman April 22, 2019 6 min read

THE MUELLER REPORT IS OUT, but you knew that already. By outsourcing the investigation to Mueller, Congress shirked its constitutional obligation to oversee the executive branch. Mueller’s investigation was narrowly scoped to prosecutable crimes arising from “the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.” It’s Congress’s job to examine the larger issues within our political system that allowed […]

Tags: Office of Legal Counsel, Freedom of Information Act

AI and Emerging Technology, Appropriations, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Ethics and Influence, Modernization, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for April 1, 2019. Every Day Is April’s Fools Day.

By DanielSchuman April 1, 2019 12 min read

ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMIN (FRANKLINS): Last week the House approved H. Res 245, which contains House Admin’s recommendations on how to allot funds amongst all the committees (except approps, which is funded separately). The upshot: flat funding for everyone, and a smaller-than-expected amount for the Fix Congress Committee. We break down the numbers and analyze them here. With an […]

Tags: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Freedom of Information Act, Government Accountability Office, Foreign Lobbying, House Ethics Committee

Accountability and Oversight, Appropriations, Ethics and Influence, Modernization, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for March 11, 2019. The Not at SXSW Edition.

By DanielSchuman March 11, 2019 8 min read

IT’S SUNSHINE WEEK, devoted to all things transparency, and there are a ton of Congress tie-ins. On the House floor, set for a vote this week, are: the Access to Congressionally Mandated Report Act (which requires all agency reports sent to Congress to be online on a central website); the Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2019 (to improve transparency of the […]

Tags: Library of Congress, Freedom of Information Act, Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act, Office of Congressional Ethics, White Supremacy, Legislation

Congressional Security, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Ethics and Influence, Modernization, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for October 22, 2018. The Tale of Congress’s Incapacity, Plus Judiciary Moves Nominees in Recess.

By DanielSchuman October 22, 2018 8 min read

THE TOP LINE Decades of institutional deterioration has left lawmakers in the dark on technology. The Lincoln Network’s Zach Graves told the tale in ten charts. (We helped). Bookmark it and visit Future Congress for more. The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced six judicial nominations while the Senate was in recess in a further destruction of institutional norms. Nomination hearings during recess […]

Tags: Whistleblower Protections, Cybersecurity, press freedom, Earmarks, US Capitol Police, Freedom of Information Act, Inspector General

Accountability and Oversight, Congressional Security, Ethics and Influence, Modernization, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for October 9, 2018. FutureCongress, Plus “Popular Bills” Can Be Substantive, Too.

By DanielSchuman October 9, 2018 9 min read

LEGISLATIVE CAPACITY That Congress’s tech savvy hasn’t kept up with the times isn’t exactly breaking news, but we should highlight that 20 bipartisan advocacy groups led by Demand Progress and the Lincoln Network launched Future Congress this past week, a resource hub for efforts to improve science and technology expertise in the legislative branch. Do 218 co-sponsors make a difference […]

Tags: Office of Legal Counsel, Library of Congress, Freedom of Information Act, US Capitol Police, White Supremacy, Trump Taxes, social media, Political Violence, Cybersecurity

Congressional Security, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Ethics and Influence, Rules, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for September 10, 2018. Legislative Branch Appropriations and Conference Rules.

By DanielSchuman September 10, 2018 10 min read

TOP LINE The Leg Branch minibus conference report may get a House floor vote this week; there was an actual, real-life conference committee last week. Here’s what’s in the House and Senate bills. — As a bonus (& thanks to Tim Ryan), the House plumped down $8.8m for intern pay in the amended legislation (text is unavailable), a big step forward to opening up the […]

Tags: Congressional Research Service, Freedom of Information Act, Staff Pay, Caucus Rules, social media, Cybersecurity, press freedom

Accountability and Oversight, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for July 2, 2018. Everything You Need to Know About the SCOTUS Nomination Process. Plus, How We Can Protect Journalists.

By DanielSchuman July 3, 2018 5 min read

TOP STORIES The Supreme Court. — Sen. McConnell says the Senate will consider Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court this fall; Pres. Trump says he’ll nominate within two weeks. Here are background reports on Supreme Court nominations from CRS: Nominations from 1789 to the present; the appointment process; committee and floor procedure; historical overview and data on Senate Judiciary […]

Tags: Freedom of Information Act, SCOTUS, press freedom

Accountability and Oversight, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

House Passes Historic FOIA Bill, Obama Expected to Sign

By DanielSchuman June 13, 2016 3 min read

Today the House of Representatives passed the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, which passed the Senate in March; President Obama indicated through a spokesman he will sign the measure. [Update: President Obama signed it into law on June 30.] The legislation is the second major transparency bill of the Obama administration — the other is the DATA Act, a federal […]

Tags: Legislation, House, Freedom of Information Act

Accountability and Oversight, Advocacy, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

Civic Organizations Warn White House on Failing Transparency Legacy

By DanielSchuman March 22, 2016 2 min read

In an unusually strongly worded letter, today Demand Progress and twelve civic organizations warned President Obama that his legacy on transparency issues is in danger. After identifying serious failings on the part of the administration — including its efforts to undermine FOIA legislation, federal spending transparency legislation, and the stalling of its ethics agenda — the organizations issued this warning: […]

Tags: Whistleblower Protections, Coalition, Executive Branch, Freedom of Information Act

Accountability and Oversight, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

Freedom of Information Bill Passes the Senate

By DanielSchuman March 15, 2016 5 min read

Today the Senate passed a Freedom of Information (FOIA) bill by unanimous consent. The legislation, officially known as the FOIA Improvement Act of 2015, was shepherded through the upper chamber by its original co-sponsors — Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) and Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-VT). Its passage is a […]

Tags: Freedom of Information Act, Legislation

Tag: Freedom of Information Act

Forecast for July 29, 2019.

Forecast for July 1, 2019.

Forecast for April 22, 2019. What happens next?

Forecast for April 1, 2019. Every Day Is April’s Fools Day.

Forecast for March 11, 2019. The Not at SXSW Edition.

Forecast for October 22, 2018. The Tale of Congress’s Incapacity, Plus Judiciary Moves Nominees in Recess.

Forecast for July 2, 2018. Everything You Need to Know About the SCOTUS Nomination Process. Plus, How We Can Protect Journalists.

House Passes Historic FOIA Bill, Obama Expected to Sign

Civic Organizations Warn White House on Failing Transparency Legacy

Freedom of Information Bill Passes the Senate

Media Center

Contact Us

Subscribe to first branch forecast