FPF urges Congress not to rubber-stamp Pentagon secrecy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Washington, D.C., July 31, 2026 — In a direct blow to public oversight, the Department of Defense is pushing a proposal to exempt “ controlled unclassified information ” from the Freedom of Information Act. If successful, the change would allow the agency to unilaterally hide millions of files from taxpayers, service members, and open-records laws — potentially forever. That’s why a broad coalition of transparency organizations, press freedom advocates, and watchdog groups today sent a joint letter to lawmakers urging Congress to reject the Pentagon’s secrecy grab. The following statement can be attributed to Lauren Harper, FPF’s Daniel Ellsberg chair on government secrecy: “The Pentagon is already too secretive, and the last thing it needs is a rubber stamp to hide…