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WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Friday that his administration will start releasing the names of people who visit the White House, reversing a long-standing policy transcending Democratic and Republican presidents.
The move, which could shed light on who influences White House decision-making, comes after a White House review of its disclosure policy and legal pressure from the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Until now, the Obama administration had sided with the Bush administration’s stand of refusing to release records, in contrast with Obama’s pledge of transparency.
But Obama said Friday after the review was completed: “We will achieve our goal of making this administration the most open and transparent administration in history, not only by opening the doors of the White House to more Americans, but by shining a light on the business conducted inside.”
“Americans have a right to know whose voices are being heard in the policymaking process,” the president said.
No records will be released right away.
Going forward, the policy covers visits starting Sept. 15, and each bunch of records will cover visits from the previous 90 to 120 days.
That means the first wave of records should be posted to the White House Web site around Dec. 31.
The White House said that each monthly release will include “tens of thousands of electronic records.”
The public is expected to see the full name of visitors, whom they met with, when they entered and when they left.
Obama said the policy will apply to virtually every visitor who comes to the White House for “an appointment, a tour, or to conduct business.”