O Gov Directive? Not This Month

While the administration had hoped to issue a long-awaited open government directive before the end of the month, sources close to the process expect that it will be out within the next couple weeks.

President Obama in a Jan. 21 memo instructed top agency officials to recommend steps federal employees should take to create a more transparent, collaborative and participatory government. And he told the Office of Management and Budget to incorporate those suggestions into formal guidance.

"It seems the Obama administration is finding it harder to shift the bureaucracy than they had hoped," said Meredith Fuchs, general counsel at the National Security Archive, a nongovernmental institute that publishes declassified documents and materials released under the Freedom of Information Act. "It reinforces the notion that President Obama and senior administration officials will have to continue to take leadership by espousing specific transparency principles and goals, even well after the open government directive is issued."