How Obama Might Change U.S. Secrecy Policy

[babylonsister]

The Presidential Transition and Secrecy


The possibilities for significant changes in government secrecy policy are starting to attract official attention as the presidential transition process begins.

“I know things are going to change,” one executive branch official with national security classification responsibility said this morning. “The folks that are inbound have a keen appreciation for the kind of things that need to occur,” the official said.

He noted the role of John Podesta as leader of the transition team. Mr. Podesta, now at the Center for American Progress (where he said he will return after the transition), is a former Clinton White House chief of staff. He played an influential part in the development of the Clinton executive order on classification policy, which generally favored openness and dramatically increased declassification of historical records.

Mr. Podesta testified (pdf) on government secrecy policy before the Senate Judiciary Committee as recently as last September 16, where he presented his own agenda for secrecy reform.

His analysis was acute and his critique was eloquent. But many of his recommendations pointed backwards, towards undoing what the Bush Administration has done, rather than to a qualitatively new information security policy.

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http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2008/11/transition_and_secrecy.html