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President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling on agencies to create regulatory reform task forces. The task forces will investigate how to "eliminate red tape" and regularly report back on progress to their respective agencies.
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly forged ahead with tough new immigration policies, outlined in a pair of memos. Although President Trump hadn’t yet released his revised executive order on immigration and securing the border with Mexico, Kelly widened the number of people potentially subject to detention and deportation. He reiterated the plan to hire another 5,000 Customs and Border Patrol agents.
The White House's chief digital officer stepped down after only a month on the job. Sources familiar with the departure say Gerrit Lansing did not want to give up his ties to an online donation platform he helped start.
On the personnel front, the Trump administration had an up-and-down week. The departure of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and the withdrawal of Labor Secretary Andrew Puzder set Washington abuzz. But the Senate confirmed Michael Mulvaney as director of the Office of Management and Budget, Steve Mnuchin as Treasury secretary, and Dr. David Shulkin as VA secretary.
Andrew Puzder withdrew his nomination to be Labor Secretary, after Labor Department employees expressed concerns ahead of his confirmation hearing. The letter disclosed a number of misgivings about Puzder’s fitness for the job.
The Office of Government Ethics is calling on the White House to investigate comments made by presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway, and whether she broke an ethics law. OGE is also reviewing Conway's comments, per the request of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Battling on both the judicial and immigration fronts, the Trump administration over the past week faced a legal setback to its action on immigration from seven countries. The issue was before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, likely en route to the Supreme Court.
Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform want unredacted revenue and expense reports from the Trump organization that were submitted to GSA.
Leaders of the bipartisan transparency caucus pledged to work together to restore public trust in open government, and to apply transparency standards evenly across the three branches of government.
Elements of it might have been controversial, but the Trump administration in its second week launched a slew of new initiatives.
Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work, the deputy Defense listed 16 separate functions that will be immune from the hiring freeze.
Members of the inspectors general community say they are worried about the federal hiring freeze and what it could mean for OIGs efforts to combat waste, fraud and abuse.
Freedom of information advocates say the recent uptick in FOIA requests is due to a combination of current events and interest in the presidential transition. But the growing interest does mean an additional burden on already short-staffed FOIA offices.
Accountability, leadership support, strategic intent, and a sense of urgency are what one FOIA leader said are the keys to a successful information office.