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Trump’s Executive Order Marks a Key Step Toward Reining in the Defense Production Act
By Kevin Schmidt and Thomas Kimbrell President Trump’s recent Executive Order rescinding the Biden Administration’s abuse of the Defense Production Act (DPA) is a welcome course correction—and a crucial reminder of why the DPA itself is in desperate need of reform. For too long, presidents of both parties have stretched the DPA far beyond its…
Read MoreWaste Watch: Five Alarming Examples of Government Waste You Paid For
Taxpayers deserve a government that works for them — one that’s transparent, accountable, and fiscally responsible. Unfortunately, recent watchdog reports and findings from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) highlight how federal agencies routinely fail to meet those standards. Over the past two months alone, audits and investigations published by Inspectors General have uncovered wasteful…
Read MoreAFP Foundation-Kansas Finally Receives Long-Awaited KORA Documents on STAR Bonds
After more than three years, Americans for Prosperity Foundation-Kansas has finally received the last batch of documents from our Kansas Open Records Act (KORA) request filed in November 2021 regarding the Kansas Department of Commerce’s administration of the STAR Bonds program. This long-overdue release follows an investigation by the Kansas Office of Attorney General, which…
Read MoreThe Biden VA’s “Independent” Echo Chamber on Community Care
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Executive Roundtable, or Red Team report on the supposed “Urgent Need to Address Community Care Spending,” sold itself as an independent and authoritative report, but instead it was a conduit for the VA and the Biden Administration to publish its own views through third parties, wasting taxpayer dollars and government time…
Read MoreICYMI: Right on Transparency Coalition Calls for States to Publish Federal Guidance
This week, the Right on Transparency Coalition called on states to publish regulatory guidance they receive from the federal government that impacts their state. Federal agencies frequently issue guidance documents that interpret and clarify statutes and regulations, as well as set official agency policy on important matters. Though guidance documents are ostensibly not legally binding on regulated…
Read MoreNew York Appellate Court Strikes Down A State Practice Allowing Intrusive Surveillance Of Innocent Families
In a significant win for the liberty interests of parents in the care and custody of their children, yesterday a New York appellate court vacated and held unlawful a longstanding state practice that subjected parents who were never accused of any wrongdoing to ongoing supervision by local child services officers. That supervision allowed state authorities…
Read MoreAFP Foundation on Reining In Administrative Abuse, Protect Due Process, and Improve Government Transparency
AFP Foundation regulatory counsel Michael Pepson and Stand Together’s Casey Mattox write on the FedSoc Blog: As soon as he took office, President Trump issued several Executive Orders aimed at bringing the administrative state in line with the Constitution and the rule of law, including an EO titled Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions.…
Read MoreEverything wrong with the FOIA process, in one single email
If you’ve ever filed a public records request, you may have experienced delays, improper denials, lack of communication, or all of the above. What’s less common is when an agency gives a requester a responsive record and then demands it be given back or destroyed, also known as a “clawback.” In 2022, the Federal Trade…
Read MoreD.C. Circuit Rules “Clawback” Orders Foreclosed by the FOIA
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit released a noteworthy decision today in Human Rights Defense Center v. U.S. Park Police, a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) case in which the federal government sought a court order requiring the return or destruction of “inadvertently disclosed” records. Such relief is commonly known…
Read More3 Model Policies to Boost State Transparency at the Start of Legislative Sessions
As state legislative sessions kick off across the country, it is an opportune time to prioritize policies that enhance transparency, empower citizens, and foster accountability. The Right on Transparency coalition, of which Americans for Prosperity Foundation is the founding member, has identified key areas where states can lead the way. Three of the coalition’s model…
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