NPEC's National Security Classification and Clearance Policy ReformNPEC's National Security Classification and Clearance Policy Reform

Secrecy News Items

Home Secrecy News Items
  • “Secrecy hinders info-sharing with allies, says Space Command deputy,” By Courtney Albon, C4ISRNET, January 25, 2023.

  • “Gen. Mark Milley’s Wrongful Jan. 6 Overclassification,” By Stewart Baker, Lawfare, January 23, 2023.

  • “Pentagon Ordered to Review Its New Practice of Concealing Documents from the Public,” By Travis Tritten, Military.com, January 4, 2023.

  • “Congress Orders Pentagon to Review ‘Controlled Unclassified’ Label,” By  Anthony Capaccio, Bloomberg, January 3, 2023.

  • “Don’t dismiss Trump’s assertion of presidential power to declassify information,” By Gary Schmitt and Henry Sokolski, The Hill, December 23, 2022.

  • “How overclassification is undermining our security in space,” John Batchelor of CBS Eye on the World interviews NPEC’s Executive Director, Henry Sokolski, December 16, 2022.

  • “EXCLUSIVE: US Strategic Space Review signed out, but no unclassified version is coming,” by Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense, November 1, 2022.

  • “How Should the U.S. Military Share Secrets?,” by Andrew Radin, Lawfare, October 30, 2022.

  • “The Family That Mined the Pentagon’s Data for Profit,” by Mark Harris, Wired, August 18, 2022.

  • “When should U.S. research be stamped ‘top secret’? NSF asks for a new look at the issue,” by Jeffrey Mervis, Science, June 30, 2022.

  • “Biden Administration Weighs Changes to Classification of National Security Secrets,” by Dustin Volz, The Wall Street Journal, June 9, 2022.

  • “Iran announces production of new military drone in Tajikistan,” by AP and Toi Staff, The Times of Israel, May 17, 2022.

  • “Drones seized at UK nuclear bases after a ‘swarm’ and reports of ‘red lights’,” by Josh Layton, Metro UK, May 15, 2022.

  • “Keeping Secrets,” by Henry Sokolski, American Purpose, May 2, 2022.

  • “How the U.S. is using intelligence to fight information war with Russia,” by Ken Dilanian, Courtney Kube, Carol E. Lee and Dan De Luce, NBC News, April 6, 2022.

  • “US spy chief says over-classification harms national security,” by Paul Handley, Yahoo News, January 27, 2022.

  • “Vast Troves of Classified Info Undermine National Security, Spy Chief Says,” by Dustin Volz, The Wall Street Journal, January 27, 2022.

  • “Lawmakers: Declassification would help boost public support for U.S. space programs,” by Sandra Erwin, Space News, January 20, 2022.

  • “An epidemic of constitutional illiteracy threatens our nation,” by Bruce Fein, The Hill, January 20, 2022.

  • “Senators’ personal office staffers to get top security clearance: report,” by Lexi Lonas, The Hill, November 17, 2021.

  • “Cyber Concerns, Classification Disagreements Lead Space Survey Results,” by Aaron Mehta, Breaking Defense, October 27, 2021.

  • “How a former Trump aide is pressing Biden to loosen national security secrets,” by Bryan Bender, POLITICO, September 29, 2021.

  • “EXCLUSIVE: Pentagon loosens access rules to secret programs, raising security leak fears,” by Bill Gertz, The Washington Times, September 27, 2021.

  • U.S. Government Accountability Office High Risk List

  • “Space Discussions Still Hampered By Secrecy,” by Shaun Waterman, Air Force Magazine, September 22, 2021.

  • “Chorus Grows To Declassify Space Threat Info From Services, Congress,” by Colin Clark, Breaking Defense, August 27, 2021.

  • “The New WikiLeaks,” by Jacob Silverman, The New Republic, August 18, 2021.

  • “Updating Space Doctrine: How to Avoid World War III,” by Rep. Jim Cooper, War on the Rocks, July 23, 2021.

  • “Editorial: Declassify the Space Force,” By Tobias Naegele, Air Force Magazine, July 22, 2021.

  • “Spy agencies to release secrets in countering China, Russia info threats,” by Bill Gertz, The Washington Times, June 17, 2021.

  • “Challenges and Opportunities in National Security Space, AIA Recommendations for DOD Space Acquisition Reform,” by Aerospace Industries Association, June 2021.

  • “US military considered using nuclear weapons against China in 1958 Taiwan Strait crisis, leaked documents show,” by Ben Westcott, CNN, May 24, 2021.

  • “The British Bomb and the United States – Part One,” by William Burr, National Security Archive, The George Washington University, May 13, 2021.

  • “The Tension Between Secrecy and Innovation,” by Paul Bracken, The Foreign Policy Research Institute, National Security Program, May 10, 2021.

  • “And One More Thing: Further Thoughts on How the IC Can do Better,” by Carmen Medina, The Cipher Brief, March 17, 2021.

  • “Competing in Time: How DoD Is Losing The Innovation Race To China,” by Bill Greenwalt, Breaking Defense, March 9, 2021.

  • “Space Operations Chief Decries Over-classification and its Effect on Operations,” By Robert Fahs, U.S. National Archives, Public Interest Declassification Board, March 8, 2021.

  • Proposal for Declassification Regarding Information Classified Under the Atomic Energy Act, testimony by Steven Aftergood, Federation of American Scientists, March 3, 2021.

  • “High-Risk Series: Dedicated Leadership Needed to Address Limited Progress in Most High-Risk Areas,” (GAO-21-119SP) by U.S. Government Accountability Office, March 2, 2021.

  • Secrecy News – Federation of American Scientists (Read at fas.org)

  • “Transforming Security Clearance Policy,” By Steven Aftergood, Federation of American Scientists, February 8, 2021.

  • “Donald Trump Wants To ‘Declassify Everything,’ Commentator Says,” by Tyler MacDonald, Inquisitr, January 6, 2021.

  • “Selective Disclosure: A Strategic Approach to Long-Term Competition,” by Thomas G. Mahnken, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), November 2, 2020.

  • “Stovepipes in space: How the US can overcome bureaucracy to improve capabilities” by Dennis Blair and Robert Work, Defense News, July 13, 2020.

  • “A Primer on Congressional Staff Clearances,” by Mandy Smithberger & Daniel Schuman, Project on Government Oversight (POGO), February 7, 2020.

  • “Leveraging the National Technology Industrial Base to Address Great-Power Competition: The Imperative to Integrate Industrial Capabilities of Close Allies,” April 2019, by William Greenwalt. Atlantic Council. (Download Report)

  • Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department, Protective Security Policy Framework Security Classification Reforms Fact Sheet (Download Fact Sheet)

  • A Vision for the Digital Age: Modernization of the U.S. National Security Classification and Declassification System (Download Report)

*“Un Secret D’en Haut” (“A Secret on High”) by Hippolytus Alexandre Julien Moulin (French 1832-84) depicting Mercury whispering a secret to the head of Pan knowing Pan will never repeat it.

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