The 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 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.

With military precision, the wartime executive targeted and struck down or flouted all the landmark sunshine laws enacted by Congress over the preceding decades: DT Freedom of Information Act (1966) DT Presidential Records Act (1978) DT Budget and Accounting Act establishing the General Accountability Office (1921) DT Federal Advisory Committee Act (1972) DT 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.