The Washington Monthly

September 4, 2009

A BREAKTHROUGH ON TRANSPARENCY.... In an encouraging reversal, the Obama administration will break with Bush-era policies and make the names of visitors to the White House available to the public.

Until now, Obama had followed the Bush policy of keeping visitor logs secret. News organizations and watchdog groups had sought to make the records public to show who was influencing administration policy on health care, financial rules and other issues.
"We will achieve our goal of making this administration the most open and transparent administration in history," Obama said in a prepared statement. "Americans have a right to know whose voices are being heard."

The new policy would begin in mid-September. Electronic visitor logs maintained by the Secret Service would be released three to four months after visits are made. The disclosure would include who set up the meeting, where it was held and for how long. Specific requests for visits before Sept. 15 would be dealt with individually.

There will, apparently, be some exceptions, but they don't seem unreasonable -- meetings related to national security, personal visits to the Obama family, and limited confidentiality discussions (such as an interview with a prospective Supreme Court nominee) will not be released. The thousands of others who visit the White House every month will be released, and published online.

The new policy resolves a lawsuit filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). In a statement, CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan said the group is dropping its case and is delighted by the White House's announcement.

"Today the Obama administration has proven its pledge to usher in a new era of government transparency was more than just a campaign promise," Sloan said. "The Bush administration fought tooth and nail to keep secret the identities of those who visited the White House. In contrast, the Obama administration -- by putting visitor records on the White House web site -- will have the most open White House in history."

—Steve Benen 9:10 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (12)

Comments

Encouraging, but why the last part "requests before Sept. 15 will be dealt with individually"? Don't get me wrong--I'm all for this--but it just seems strange. Could it be because the discussions/meetings that took place regarding some of the most pressing issues of the moment (i.e., financial reform and health care reform) give them pause? Or would give the citizenry too much info?

Posted by: terraformer on September 4, 2009 at 9:18 AM | PERMALINK

"There will, apparently, be some exceptions ... personal visits to the Obama family ..."

So in other words, if BHO's pal Bill Ayers shows up, we'll never know.

Posted by: Al on September 4, 2009 at 9:28 AM | PERMALINK

Terraformer @ 9:18 am - speaking from a software engineering/geeky point of view; give benefit of trust to the Obama Whitehouse here.

It could be as simple as, in order to categorize the visits as "to be published" or "to be kept confidential"; a software/database enhancement is needed. To flag the visit. Its easier to flag correctly going forward - going backwards, might lead to some confusion and un-desired publishment

Mah 3 1/2 cents worth. Grin...

Posted by: sduffys on September 4, 2009 at 9:29 AM | PERMALINK

it's beneficial to follow a thugocracy into office. some normal shit automatically makes you look good.

and al, i talked to bill ayers: he's already been living in the lincoln bedroom for some time... wont need to be on any lists...

Posted by: neill on September 4, 2009 at 9:42 AM | PERMALINK

Remind me again where Rahm Emanuel's office is. In the White House? Or somewhere safe from open visitor logs. Oh, and how about phone "visits."

Posted by: Greg Worley on September 4, 2009 at 9:43 AM | PERMALINK

sduffys: point taken. I'll just say that after the last 8 years, my trust is not so easily given anymore. Sad fact for me. But I'm certainly going to give the benefit of the doubt. Thanks.

Posted by: terraformer on September 4, 2009 at 9:55 AM | PERMALINK

Maybe Ayers is hiding UNDER the Lincoln bed! LOL.

Rahm is probably in an undisclosed location...

Posted by: msmolly on September 4, 2009 at 9:57 AM | PERMALINK

Remind me again where Rahm Emanuel's office is.

Down the hall from the Oval Office.

Posted by: DJ on September 4, 2009 at 10:02 AM | PERMALINK

Encouraging, but why the last part "requests before Sept. 15 will be dealt with individually"? -terraformer

So the sun never shines on the myriad visits from insurance executives over the last several months.

...give benefit of trust to the Obama Whitehouse here. -sduffys

Trust is something I never give to any government. Trust given always results in power taken.

Posted by: doubtful on September 4, 2009 at 10:14 AM | PERMALINK

Is the Obama White House also following the Bush Administration practice of illegally using other email accounts to hide all their important business instead of their government accounts? OK, probably not, but what happened to investigating that particular crime? Another Obama we're-not-looking-under-that-rock policy? (Might find some indictable bugs).

Posted by: emjayay on September 4, 2009 at 11:24 AM | PERMALINK

This shows that lawsuits work. Bravo CREW. Once again we see why the Right hates lawyers. Oops, have to go: there's a Bill Ayers sighting down the block! (He's everywhere!)

Posted by: SF on September 4, 2009 at 11:33 AM | PERMALINK

An embargo lasting three or four months must be intended to keep secrets, not merely to allow reasonable time for screening the lists. Time-lag openness.

Posted by: Ross Best on September 4, 2009 at 6:07 PM | PERMALINK