Bush-Cheney Administration's Assault on Open Government
The Bush-Cheney administration took office in 2001 determined to assert the preeminent authority of the executive branch and its immunity from congressional oversight and public transparency. Within months, Congress's Use of Force resolution on the heels of the 9/11 terrorist attacks gave the White House the platform for launching an aggressive and successful campaign to gut the nation's open government laws, neuter congressional prerogatives, and shroud the presidency in privilege and...
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The Bush-Cheney administration took office in 2001 determined to assert the preeminent authority of the executive branch and its immunity from congressional oversight and public transparency. Within months, Congress's "Use of Force" resolution on the heels of the 9/11 terrorist attacks gave the White House the platform for launching an aggressive and successful campaign to gut the nation's open government laws, neuter congressional prerogatives, and shroud the presidency in privilege and secrecy. With military precision, the wartime executive targeted and struck down or flouted all the landmark sunshine laws enacted by Congress over the preceding decades: Freedom of Information Act (1966) Presidential Records Act (1978) Budget and Accounting Act establishing the General Accountability Office (1921) Federal Advisory Committee Act (1972) Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (1978) Montgomery, who founded the world's largest academic repository of contemporary human rights documents, concludes with a summary of the aggregate impact of Bush-Cheney's attacks on open and balanced government and their implications for the future of constitutional and human rights in the United States.
1 The Freedom of Information Act in Retreat 12 Overturning the Presidential Records Act 353 Challenging the GAO's Statutory Powers 594 Defeating the Federal Advisory Committee Act 975 Subverting the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act 1 25Epilogue 155Glossary 163Notes 167Bibliography 201Index 207
\ From the Publisher"Montgomery outlines how the Bush-Cheney administration has shielded the federal government from public inspection by curtailing access to information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), obstructed access to presidential records, invoked national security for keeping secrets, and conducted wiretaps without warrants. . . . Montgomery illustrates how the Bush-Cheney administration used executive privilege and prerogatives to circumvent open government laws. Recommended."\ -\ Choice\ \ \
