Obama Administration

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. said Tuesday that records of missing e-mail from the Bush White House do not have to be turned over because the office that created them is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

With Congress's approval Tuesday of the omnibus spending bill, the Office of Government Services, which will house the new ombudsman for the Freedom of Information Act, received $1 million in start-up funds.

In clear rejection of an 18-year-old military policy, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Thursday that photographers will once again be allowed at Dover Air Force Base to document the return of fallen troops' caskets from war.

So long as the families of the dead agree, Gates said, the news media will be allowed in to document the solemn arrival ceremonies at the Delaware base. A Pentagon spokesperson wrote in an e-mail to the Reporters Committee:

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday ordered a review of a military policy that bans the media from taking photographs of U.S. soldiers' caskets as they're flown into Dover Air Force Base. His announcement came less than 24 hours after President Obama spoke on the issue at his first prime time press conference. 

A CongressDaily reporter was physically restrained by a man accompanying CIA Director-designate Leon Panetta on Thursday after Panetta's confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill.

Chris Strohm said he and five or so other reporters were waiting in a Dirksen Senate Office Building hallway when Panetta emerged from a room. The reporter asked Panetta if he would take a couple of questions and received no response; Strohm asked again and Panetta turned to him, saying he wasn't taking questions at the time, Strohm said.

FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell on Wednesday urged President Obama to clarify his position on any potential reinstatement of the Commission’s now-defunct Fairness Doctrine, in a Media Institute speech at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington.

At least two groups are asking the Obama administration to reconsider its stance on pending Freedom of Information Act lawsuits.

The American Civil Liberties Union and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington are pushing for the release of documents the Bush administration fought to keep secret.

President Obama won widespread praise in his first week  office among open-government advocates for issuing a memo reaffirming a commitment to FOIA.

A former National Security Agency analyst told MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann Wednesday night that the Bush Administration targeted and eavesdropped on the conversations of American journalists.

President Barack Obama, on his first full day in office, sent a strong message of his intention to run a transparent government, directing agencies to release information to the public when possible and rolling out a new White House Web site geared toward communication and transparency.