The DC Council has dissolved the Homeland Security Commission, a move that has raised concerns among transparency advocates and former council members. The dissolution of the commission was included in the Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Support Act, which also allows for the destruction of all commission records and imposes a lifetime gag order on current and former commissioners.

Concerns About Transparency

Former DC Council member Kathleen Patterson, who introduced the legislation that established the Homeland Security Commission, expressed concerns about the dissolution of the commission and the potential loss of important records. “I don’t understand how the council held that to be legally sufficient,” Patterson said. “We have a record retention law that says records have to be maintained for at least seven years… so I don’t understand how that could go forward without any kind of debate.”

The DC Open Government Coalition also expressed concerns about the dissolution of the commission and the potential loss of access to information. The coalition sent a letter to council members, urging them to reconsider the decision and to ensure that important records are preserved.

Response from Council Members

DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said that he did not receive the coalition’s letter and that the decision to dissolve the commission was made in order to protect classified information. “If the Homeland Security records have to deal with security threats to the city, then there would be a value to not having them open to the public for a period of time,” Mendelson said.

However, Robert S. Becker, author of the coalition’s letter, disagreed with Mendelson’s assessment. “He has been opposed to transparency his entire time on the council,” Becker said. “He strongly opposed the first Open Government Meetings Act that Kathy Patterson introduced in 2006 and managed, with Carol Schwartz and some others, to defeat it.”

Original reporting: The Washington Informer — read the source article.