WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday appointed a “transparency coordinator” to streamline the State Department’s much-criticized response to records requests from the public and Congress.
Kerry named retired Ambassador Janice Jacobs to the post to improve the preservation and release times of documents requested by Congress and the public under the Freedom of Information Act. Jacobs was previously assistant secretary of state for consular affairs and was instrumental in revamping the U.S. visa application process after Sept. 11, 2001.
The department has been criticized for inefficiency, notably since the clamor over former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s use of a private email server, in finding documents and releasing them in response to records requests. Since 2008, the number of FOIA requests has increased threefold and queries from Congress have jumped significantly. Officials say the sheer volume has strained existing resources and manpower, resulting in delays.
Kerry has asked the State Department’s inspector general to review the agency’s document management and retention policies and recommend improvements to the process. Jacobs will take the lead on implementing those recommendations when they are released.
