WASHINGTON—U.S. officials classify information that should either be public or more widely shared within the government, hobbling national defense objectives and jeopardizing congressional oversight of the executive branch, a Washington research organization found in a new report.
The findings, to be published this week by the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, stem from a nearly two-year review of the U.S. classification system and are based on interviews with dozens of current and former officials from the Pentagon, intelligence agencies, the State Department and elsewhere, as well as congressional staffers.
The review comes as efforts are underway in Congress and the White House to reduce the vast quantities of classified records housed within executive branch agencies. Meanwhile, senior officials have said the White House’s decision to reveal intelligence on Russia’s planned invasion of Ukraine last year demonstrated tangible value in sharing secrets within government, with allies and with the public.
The White House is currently working on an executive order intended to overhaul the classification system, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Generally every recent presidential administration other than
has issued some kind of executive order adjusting classification policies, but those past efforts have done little to curtail the growing problem of overclassification, according to government transparency experts.
The review identified examples in which overclassification appeared to harm U.S. national security, including by slowing rates of military innovation, complicating military space missions, and hindering cooperation from the private sector to improve defense against cyberattacks.
“What I heard was pretty appalling: Officials, who had lost the plot, keeping our soldiers, innovators, allies, legislators, and the public in the dark on critical information needed to defend the nation,” Henry Sokolski, the executive…
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