"Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), the chairwoman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, said she is “deeply troubled” by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) lack of cooperation with lawmakers in a letter sent Thursday to EPA chief Andrew Wheeler. Johnson said the EPA's failure to provide requested information to her committee represented an “obstruction of Congress,” and she threatened “compulsory measures” if it does not provide previously requested information by July and August deadlines.

EPA scientists commonly tell reporters they are not allowed to talk to media without permission from the agency's press office. Now congressional Democrats have introduced a bill reinforcing the right of scientists to talk to reporters.

"Senators from both sides of the aisle are backing a bill to strengthen the public’s ability to obtain government records, seeking to counteract recent changes that make it easier for the Trump administration to withhold information."

A good-government advocacy group filed suit July 23, arguing that EPA's June 26 Freedom of Information Act rule had been issued illegally and violated FOIA law. The group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) asked a federal district court in D.C. to strike down the new EPA rule.