New bill would remove the PACER paywall
The records of U.S. federal courts are available though the paywalled Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system, which has been called “costly, outdated and difficult to navigate.” A new version of “The Open Courts Act” would instruct the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to develop a new system to replace PACER. The […]
“Libraries and Public Access to Federal Data”. Chris Marcum interviewed by Public Data Project
(full disclosure: I am a board member on the Public Data Project) On May 7, 2026, Molly Hardy, Project Lead for the Public Data Project, sat down for an interview with Chris Marcum, Senior Fellow for Data Policy at the Data Foundation and former Senior Statistician at the White House Office of Management and Budget […]
White House Office of Legal Counsel says Presidential Records Act unconstitutional. CRS begs to differ
In another ongoing saga of this administration attacking and looking to destroy the “administrative state,” the Justice Department’s shady Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) — the same office which justified torture among many spurious secret legal opinions which FGI agrees should be publicly accessible! — released (on April 1 of all days!!) an opinion that […]
CRS report on availability of federal data
As soon as I hit “publish” on the ongoing destruction of federal agencies, someone sent this to me. Check out this recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on federal data availability. Availability of Federal Data: Policy Considerations for Disclosure, Preservation, and Governance. CRS Report R48889. March 31, 2026. Throughout 2025, media reports have suggested that […]
GPO doubles congressionally mandated reports on govinfo. A policy commentary
May 13, 2026 / Leave a comment
This morning, I received a press release from the Government Publishing Office (GPO) “GPO Doubles Congressionally Mandated Reports on GovInfo.” This is great news indeed, and something that we’ve been advocating for and tracking on for over 10 years. These reports have long been largely “unreported” and difficult for the public to find and use […]
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