LegiStorm

Summary:

Recently, there have been multiple high-profile incidents involving the release of classified government information. Perhaps most prominent was Wikileaks.org's unauthorized publication of more than 600,000 classified Department of Defense documents. Such incidents have further heightened congressional, media, and public interest in classified information policy. President Barack H. Obama issued Executive Order 13526 on "Classified National Security Information" on December 29, 2009, and Congress enacted P.L. 111-258, the Reducing Over-Classification Act, which President Obama signed into law on October 9, 2010. This report provides information on classified information policy, which also is called security classification policy and national security classification information policy. It discusses the history, costs, and agencies assigned roles in classified information policy. The report focuses on Executive Order 13526, which establishes much of the current policy, and the report identifies possible oversight issues for Congress. In broad terms, classified information policy aims to decrease the probability of persons or foreign nations accessing government-held information without authorization and using it to harm the national security of the United States. To this end, many authorities and policies limit access to information held by the federal government. Federal law defines "classified information" as "information or material designated and clearly marked or clearly represented, pursuant to the provisions of a statute or Executive order (or a regulation or order issued pursuant to a statute or Executive order), as requiring a specific degree of protection against unauthorized disclosure for reasons of national security (50 U.S.C. 426(1))." According to the Information Security Oversight Office, government security classification costs were $8.8 billion in FY2009, although this figure excludes intelligence agencies' expenditures. Congress has enacted statutes to set aspects of classified information policy. More regularly, Presidents have issued executive orders to establish classified information policies and procedures. Typically, these directives have defined (1) who in the federal government may classify information; (2) what levels of classification and classification markings (e.g., "top secret") may be used; (3) who may access classified information; and (4) how and when classified information is to be declassified. E.O. 13526 revised the previous policies on these matters and established a National Declassification Center. This center, located at the National Archives and Records Administration, is tasked with eliminating a more than 400 million-page backlog of classified records that are 25 years old and older. Congress may opt to examine the implementation of E.O. 13526, including issues such as its mandate for agencies to review their security classification guides for fealty to current policy. Additionally, the practice of permitting the executive branch to set much of classified information policy may be subject to examination. Similarly, the enactment of the Reducing Over-Classification Act came less than a year after the issuance of E.O. 13526. Congress may choose to examine to what degree classifying agencies have implemented the new law and the executive order consonantly. This report will be updated to reflect significant developments.