Shortly after supporters of the Openness Promotes Effectiveness in Our National (OPEN) Government Act began aggressive online and telephone campaigns to discover the senator who had placed an anonymous hold on the bill, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) acknowledged that he was blocking the legislation. Kyl explained that the move was at the behest of the Department of Justice (DOJ), which he explained had "uncharacteristically strong objections to the bill."

Apparently, DOJ believes some of the provisions in the bill are too strong. But Sen. Patrick Leahy's (D-VT) office claims that such concerns have been addressed already, including the removal of a section that would have prevented the government from withholding information if an agency took too long to respond to a FOIA request.

DOJ also reportedly believes that President Bush's 2005 Executive Order on FOIA (E.O. 13392) is working well in improving agency implementation of the act and should be given more time before a legislative fix is attempted. Public interest groups have been less impressed with the results of the E.O. after a review of the agency FOIA plans revealed that "many of the improvement areas were either not addressed or rated as poorly addressed."

Kyl's public acknowledgment of his hold on the legislation has not changed the fact that the bill remains stuck because of the hold. Until the differences can be resolved, Kyl has stated that he will continue to block the bill. During the Judiciary Committee's April vote on the bill, Kyl voiced concerns but agreed to work with Leahy to address the issues. However, Leahy's office reports that it has received no contact from Kyl about the bill ever since.

If the hold is not removed, the only way the bill will reach the Senate floor is under regular order, meaning that considerable floor time would need to be reserved for debate of the bill. Under Senate rules, nearly any type of amendment could be added to the bill, making it a potential legislative Christmas tree, which could kill the overall bill. Since the bill is considered non-controversial, moving it through unanimous consent, which takes no Senate time, is the logical path — except for the Kyl hold.