In Trump's Washington, public business increasingly handled behind closed doors

[mahatmakanejeeves]

In Trump’s Washington, public business increasingly handled behind closed doors

By Philip Rucker and Ed O'Keefe June 19 at 7:09 PM

The Senate bill to scale back the health-care law known as Obamacare is being written in secret by a single senator, Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and a clutch of his senior aides.

Officials at numerous agencies of the Trump administration have stonewalled friendly Republicans in Congress — not to mention Democrats — by declining to share internal documents on sensitive matters or refusing to answer questions.

President Trump, meanwhile, is still forbidding the release of his tax returns, his aides have stopped releasing logs of visitors to the White House and his media aides have started banning cameras at otherwise routine news briefings, as happened Monday. ... Trump even refuses to acknowledge to the public that he plays golf during his frequent weekend visits to his private golf courses.

More and more in the Trump era, business in Washington is happening behind closed doors. The federal government’s leaders are hiding from public scrutiny — and their penchant for secrecy represents a stark departure from the campaign promises of Trump and his fellow Republicans to usher in newfound transparency.
....

Ashley Parker contributed to this report.

Philip Rucker is the White House Bureau Chief for The Washington Post. He previously has covered Congress, the Obama White House, and the 2012 and 2016 presidential campaigns. He joined The Post in 2005 as a local news reporter. Follow @PhilipRucker

Ed O’Keefe is a congressional reporter who has covered congressional and presidential politics since 2008. He previously covered federal agencies, the federal workforce and spent a brief time covering the war in Iraq. Follow @edatpost. Follow @edatpost

[yallerdawg]

1. That's the way corporations act.

Not democratic governments.

Not the way public servants are supposed to perform.

There is going to be a reckoning!

[SHRED]

2. "Running Government like a business"

That's what Jared and Republicans want and that's what they are trying to do.

[Doreen]

3. That is the repukes version of transparency.