Despite President Bush's order for improvements more than two years ago, much of the federal government has barely made a dent in the huge backlog of unanswered requests under the Freedom of Information Act [1].

An audit by the National Security Archive [2] of 90 government agencies found mixed results from the Dec. 14, 2005, executive order [3] that agencies clear the backlog and be more responsive.

"Behind its ambitious facade . . . the order lacked both carrot and stick," the audit said. The order provided no additional money and no way to force agencies to step up efforts.

Some agencies did well: The Energy Department cut its backlog from 1,162 requests in 2005 to 438 last year. The CIA cut requests more than five years old by 25% in 2006 and by 74% in 2007.