Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
The CLEAR Act amends 5 U.S.C. §552(f)(1) to expressly include "any entity established under section 3161 of this title" in the Freedom of Information Act's definition of agency. The amendment applies to FOIA requests made on or after enactment, regardless of when the records were created.
Transparency and accountability (left) vs. executive confidentiality (right)
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill is a narrowly focused amendment to FOIA that is textually specific and integrated with existing statutory provisions; it sets a clear effective date but omits fiscal analysis and detailed handling of some boundary questions.
The CLEAR Act amends 5 U.S.C. §552(f)(1) to expressly include "any entity established under section 3161 of this title" in the Freedom of Information Act's definition of agency.
The amendment applies to FOIA requests made on or after enactment, regardless of when the records were created.
Narrow, low‑cost transparency amendment improves FOIA clarity and could attract bipartisan support, but uncertainty about affected entities and potential institutional pushback lowers odds.
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill is a narrowly focused amendment to FOIA that is textually specific and integrated with existing statutory provisions; it sets a clear effective date but omits fiscal analysis and detailed handling of some boundary questions.
Transparency and accountability (left) vs. executive confidentiality (right)
These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.
Transparency and accountability (left) vs. executive confidentiality (right)
Likely supportive because the bill expands transparency and makes FOIA coverage clearer.
The retroactive language is seen as strengthening accountability by allowing access to older records when requested after enactment.
Generally favorable to clearer FOIA boundaries but cautious about operational costs and national-security/privacy exemptions.
Views this as an incremental fix that should be paired with implementation details and funding clarity.
Likely skeptical or somewhat opposed because expanding FOIA coverage can intrude on executive branch confidentiality and add regulatory burden.
Might accept a narrowly tailored or amended version protecting deliberative materials.
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Still ahead
Still ahead
Still ahead
Narrow, low‑cost transparency amendment improves FOIA clarity and could attract bipartisan support, but uncertainty about affected entities and potential institutional pushback lowers odds.
The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.
Transparency and accountability (left) vs. executive confidentiality (right)
Narrow, low‑cost transparency amendment improves FOIA clarity and could attract bipartisan support, but uncertainty about affected entities…
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill is a narrowly focused amendment to FOIA that is textually specific and integrated with existing statutory provisions; it sets a clear effective date but omits fiscal…
Go beyond the headline summary with full stakeholder mapping, legislative design analysis, passage barriers, and lens-by-lens tradeoff breakdowns.