The Accountability 2021 project benefited from an active steering committee, which established topics on which working groups identified current problems and developed actionable recommendations. We appreciate the time and effort, especially, put forth by the leads and co-leads of each working group, to pull together these sets of recommendations. While each organization contributed to the end product, Open The Government bears sole responsibility for the end product.
Steering Committee
- Alex Abdo, Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University
- Steve Aftergood, Federation of American Scientists
- Ryan Alexander, Hyphen Strategies, LLC
- Gary Bass, Bauman Foundation*
- Tom Blanton, National Security Archive
- Danielle Brian, Project On Government Oversight
- Steve Ellis, Taxpayers for Common Sense
- Austin Evers, American Oversight
- Caroline Frederickson, Georgetown Law and
- Brennan Center
- Heather Higginbottom, Former Deputy Secretary of State*
- Karen Hobart-Flynn, Common Cause
- Sally Katzen, Former Government Official and Professor, New York University School of Law*
- Kevin Kosar, American Enterprise Institute
- Conrad Martin, Fund for Constitutional Government
- Andy Rosenberg, Union of Concerned Scientists
- Lisa Rosenberg, Open The Government*
- Tom Saenz, MALDEF
- Hina Shamsi, American Civil Liberties Union
- Thomas Susman, Strategic Advisor, American Bar Association*
- Anne Tindall, Protect Democracy
- Anne Weismann, FOIA Litigator
- Robert Weissman, Public Citizen*
- John Wonderlich, Sunlight Foundation
* Members of the executive committee
Ad Hoc Advisors
- Vanita Gupta, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
- Mark De La Iglesia, Open Society Foundations
- Sarah Knight, Open Society Foundations
Editorial Consultant
- Sixteenth Street Consulting LLC (Rick Blum)
Working Groups
Open Government
Co-Leads
- FOIA Litigator (Anne Weismann)
- Open The Government (Emily Manna)
Participating Organizations
- American Civil Liberties Union (Hina Shamsi and Kate Oh)
- American Oversight (Austin Evers)
- Bauman Foundation (Gary Bass)
- Federation of American Scientists (Steve Aftergood)
- Government Accountability Project (Irvin McCullough)
- Human Rights First (Rita Siemion)
- Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University (Alex Abdo)
- MuckRock (Michael Morisy)
- National Security Archive (Tom Blanton)
- Project On Government Oversight (Danielle Brian)
- American Enterprise Institute (Kevin Kosar)
- Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (Adam Marshall and Melissa Wasser)
- Taxpayers for Common Sense (Steve Ellis)
- American Bar Association (Tom Susman)
- Union of Concerned Scientists (Andrew Rosenberg and Michael Halpern)
- Demand Progress (Alex Howard)
Balance of Power
Co-Leads
- Protect Democracy (Anne Tindall)
- Taxpayers for Common Sense (Steve Ellis)
Participating Organizations
- American Civil Liberties Union (Hina Shamsi and Kate Oh)
- American Oversight (Austin Evers)
- Center for American Progress (Sam Berger)
- FOIA Litigator (Anne Weismann)
- Common Cause (Karen Hobart-Flynn)
- Federation of American Scientists (Steve Aftergood)
- Good Government Now (Bill Murphy)
- Government Accountability Project (Irvin McCullough)
- Human Rights First (Rita Siemion)
- Open The Government (Lisa Rosenberg and Emily Manna)
- Protect Democracy (Anne Tindall)
- Project On Government Oversight (Danielle Brian and Elizabeth Hempowicz)
- Public Citizen (Robert Weissman and Lisa Gilbert)
- American Enterprise Institute (Kevin Kosar)
- Taxpayers for Common Sense (Steve Ellis)
Ethics
Co-Leads
- American Oversight (Austin Evers)
- Common Cause (Beth Rotman)
Participating Organizations
- Campaign Legal Center (Kedric Payne)
- Caroline Frederickson (Georgetown Law and
- Brennan Center)
- Center for American Progress (Sam Berger)
- Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Jennifer Ahearn)
- Common Cause (Karen Hobart-Flynn)
- Protect Democracy (Anne Tindall)
- Public Citizen (Robert Weissman)
- Hyphen Strategies, LLC (Ryan Alexander)
Whistleblowers
Co-Leads
- Government Accountability Project (Irvin McCullough)
- Union of Concerned Scientists (Andrew Rosenberg)
Participating Organizations
- Common Cause (Karen Hobart-Flynn)
- Defending Rights and Dissent (Chip Gibbons)
- Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University (Alex Abdo)
- Project On Government Oversight (Danielle Brian)
- Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (Melissa Wasser)
- Hyphen Strategies, LLC (Ryan Alexander)
- Union of Concerned Scientists (Michael Halpern)
Responsive Government
Lead
- Public Citizen (Robert Weissman*)
Participating Organizations
- American Oversight (Austin Evers)
- Bauman Foundation (Gary Bass)
- Campaign Legal Center (Brendan Fischer)
- Caroline Frederickson (Georgetown Law and
- Brennan Center)
- Center for American Progress (Sam Berger)
- FOIA Litigator (Anne Weismann)
- Federation of American Scientists (Steve Aftergood)
- Protect Democracy (Anne Tindall)
- Public Citizen (Robert Weissman)
- Union of Concerned Scientists (Michael Halpern)
Pandemic Preparedness and Response
Co-Leads
- Open The Government (Hannah Bassett)
- Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University (Liz Borkowski)
Participating Organizations
- American Oversight (Austin Evers)
- Bauman Foundation (Gary Bass)
- Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (Jared Bernstein)
- Economic Policy Institute (Heidi Shierholz)
- Equity Forward (Molly Bangs)
- Government Accountability Project (Irvin McCullough)
- National Security Archive (Tom Blanton, Lauren Harper)
- National Security Counselors (Kel McClanahan)
- Project on Government Oversight (Sean Moulton)
- Public Citizen (Zain Rizvi, Susan Harley, Bartlett Naylor)
- Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (Melissa Wasser)