Top Story: Congress to consider making open data the default in federal government. As soon as next week, the “Open, Permanent, Electronic, and Necessary (OPEN) Government Data Act” will be introduced in Congress, providing a legislative vehicle to make the open data policy of the Obama administration into the law of the land. The bill is a short, clear approach to ensuring that open data endures for generations to come. We’ll have more to say about it when it’s formally introduced.

National

• Microsoft is suing the U.S. Department of Justice, “challenging the constitutionality of the gag orders issued by the government that prevent tech companies from informing their customers when their data is accessed as part of an investigation.” [TechCrunch]
• The Obama administration is considering elimination the lowest of the three major tiers for classified information. [Politico]
• A Freedom of Information Act request showed that the FBI tried to defeat encryption 10 years ago. [New York Times]
• The Department of Homeland Security made a comment (in a .xlsx file, no less) that open source software is like giving the Mafia a copy of FBI systems code. [Nextgov]
• The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy launched CitizenScience.gov as part of the White House Science Fair. Here’s some context for why citizen science matters to society. [HuffPost] Birders who stomp around in the snow for the Christmas Bird Count are already wise to this idea.
• Are political appointees barriers to government efficiency and effectiveness? A new study from the Brookings Institute makes the case. [Brookings]
• One point in there we certainly agree with: Inspector Generals are critical components of holding agencies accountable. Unfortunately, as POGO’s IG dashboard highlights, many federal agencies still have vacancies in the role, some going back years.
• Wine retailer David Trone has spent 9.1 million dollars of his own money running for the Democratic nomination in Maryland’s 8th Congressional District, putting him on track to be the biggest self-funding House candidate in history. [Washington Post]
• This is why the NAACP cares about campaign finance reform. [BillMoyers.com]
• Higher travel costs, lower access to the President and senior officials, and the @WhiteHouse “going direct” online are raising questions about the role of the White House press corps is playing. [CJR]
• A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office said that the federal government has a data problem. [FCW]
• Once again, it’s time to nominate a government agency for the Investigative Reports and Editor’s Golden Padlock award for secrecy.
• And on the flipside of that theme, the OpenGov Foundation announced the winners of the inaugural Door Stop Awards for open government last night in DC.