# How Information Is Classified and Declassified [[How a Security Clearance Is Granted and Revoked]] maps the machine that decides **who may see** classified information. This page maps the machine that decides **what is classified in the first place**, and — the harder half — what gets it out again. The two pages share an organizing split, and it is the split that runs through most of this series: a *status* that comes with a form, a clock and a reviewing body, versus a *permission* that can be granted or withdrawn in an afternoon with nothing written down. The governing instrument is [[Executive Order 13526]], signed 29 December 2009 and still in force as of October 2026 — no successor order has been issued in the second Trump administration. But the order is not the source of the authority it describes. In [[Department of the Navy v. Egan]] the Supreme Court located the President's authority over national security information in Article II, which means the order is the President's own description of a power he already holds. That distinction is the hinge of this page, because a self-imposed procedure can be set aside by the official who imposed it. ⭐ **The structural finding is that the system is asymmetric at exactly one node.** Classification has four gates and every one of them is documented: a named authority, one of eight substantive categories, a level, a duration, a marking, and a list of things it is forbidden to be used for. Declassification has four exits, and **three of them are procedural** — automatic at 25 years, systematic review, and the public's mandatory-review request — each with a clock, a form, a reviewing body and an appeal that ends at the [[Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel]]. The fourth exit is discretionary release by the President or a delegate, and it has **no clock, no form, no reviewing body, and no settled requirement that it be written down at all.** In July 2026 that fourth exit was the one in use. The second finding is a loop. The appeal spine of the whole system terminates in the President: an ISCAP ruling binds the executive branch and can be appealed to no one else. The President is also the operator of the one exit that no body reviews. **The court of last resort and the least-constrained classifier are the same office** — which is a structural observation about where the road ends, not a claim about any particular decision. Sibling maps: [[Intelligence Community Tree]] is the set of agencies that produce most of what this page classifies; [[How an Executive Order Is Issued and Challenged]] is the instrument that creates and could replace the framework; [[Sanctions Designation Pipeline]] and [[Special Counsel Appointment and Removal Flow]] are the adjacent "a form, a clock and a forum" maps in this folder. > [!note] How to read this chart > `──▶` = the main path · `└─▶` = a branch or off-ramp · `◇` = a decision point · `⏱` = a statutory or regulatory clock · `⚖` = reviewed by a body outside the originating agency · `⬛` = decided inside the originating agency, no outside review · `✕` = no review of any kind exists · `★` = changed or acted on in 2025–26 · `[cite]` = the controlling authority. Section numbers in the form `1.3` or `3.3(b)` are sections of E.O. 13526. Everything inside the fence is plain text; linked entities appear in the prose, Notes and See also. ``` HOW INFORMATION IS CLASSIFIED AND DECLASSIFIED (as of 18 October 2026) │ Legend: ──▶ main path └─▶ branch ◇ decision point ⏱ clock │ ⚖ outside review ⬛ inside the agency only ✕ no review exists │ ★ changed or acted on in 2025-26 [cite] controlling authority │ ■ 0. THE PREMISE — the AUTHORITY is constitutional; the ORDER only describes it │ E.O. 13526 (29 Dec 2009) is the operating manual. It is not the grant. │ Dept. of the Navy v. Egan, 484 U.S. 518 (1988): the President's authority │ over access to national security information "flows primarily from this │ constitutional investment of power in the President," Art. II, Sec. 2. │ ─▶ CONSEQUENCE: every clock and form below binds AGENCIES. Whether any of │ them binds the PRESIDENT is contested and unresolved. [see Notes] │ ★ No successor order has issued in the second Trump administration. The │ framework in force in October 2026 is still the 2009 order. │ ├─◆ PART 1 — THE ENTRANCE: ORIGINAL CLASSIFICATION [Part 1] │ │ Four gates. All four are documented, by design. │ │ │ ├─ GATE 1 · WHO [1.3] │ │ ├─ the President and the Vice President ................ inherent │ │ ├─ agency heads and officials designated by the President │ │ └─ officials delegated the authority IN WRITING │ │ TOP SECRET delegable only by Pres., VP, agency head or designee │ │ ⏱ delegations reviewed; authority lapses if unused [1.3(c)-(d)] │ │ FY2023 count: 696 TOP SECRET + 979 SECRET + 3 CONFIDENTIAL original │ │ classification authorities, across 17 agencies. [ISOO FY2023] │ │ │ ├─ GATE 2 · THE TEST [1.1] │ │ (1) an OCA classifies it, AND │ │ (2) the U.S. government owns, produced or controls it, AND │ │ (3) it falls in one of the eight categories at 1.4, AND │ │ (4) unauthorized disclosure "reasonably could be expected to result │ │ in damage to the national security," and the OCA is able to │ │ identify or describe that damage. │ │ ◇ IF DOUBT about the level ─▶ classify at the lower level [1.2(b)] │ │ │ ├─ GATE 3 · ◇ WHICH OF THE EIGHT CATEGORIES [1.4] │ │ ├─ (a) military plans, weapons systems or operations │ │ ├─ (b) foreign government information │ │ ├─ (c) intelligence activities, sources, methods, cryptology │ │ ├─ (d) foreign relations or activities, incl. confidential sources │ │ ├─ (e) scientific, technological or economic matters tied to nat. sec. │ │ ├─ (f) safeguarding nuclear materials or facilities │ │ ├─ (g) vulnerabilities or capabilities of nat.-sec. systems, │ │ │ installations, infrastructure, projects, plans, protection │ │ └─ (h) weapons of mass destruction │ │ ─▶ no category, no classification. The list is exhaustive. │ │ │ ├─ GATE 4 · LEVEL, DURATION, MARKING │ │ LEVELS — three, and only three [1.2] │ │ TOP SECRET ..... "exceptionally grave damage" │ │ SECRET ......... "serious damage" │ │ CONFIDENTIAL ... "damage" │ │ NOT LEVELS — compartments are ACCESS determinations layered on top │ │ SCI Sensitive Compartmented Information .. intelligence sources │ │ SAP Special Access Program ............... need-to-know, enhanced │ │ ─▶ a document is TS//SCI, never "SCI level." The distinction matters │ │ because an access determination is made by a different official, │ │ under a different standard, than a classification decision. │ │ DURATION [1.5] │ │ ⏱ a date or event, no more than 10 years out, OR │ │ ⏱ up to 25 years where the OCA justifies it │ │ ⏱ no date set ─▶ 10 years by default │ │ ✕ indefinite classification is not authorized │ │ MARKING — level, agency, office of origin, date, declass. instruction, │ │ and portion marks [1.6] ─▶ the marking IS the audit trail │ │ │ └─ THE PROHIBITIONS — what classification may never be used for [1.7] │ ✕ to conceal violations of law, inefficiency or administrative error │ ✕ to prevent embarrassment to a person, organization or agency │ ✕ to restrain competition │ ✕ to withhold information not requiring protection │ ✕ basic scientific research unrelated to national security │ RECLASSIFICATION after authorized public release: permitted only on │ the personal authority of the agency head, in writing, with notice │ to the Director of ISOO. [1.7(c)-(d)] │ ─▶ ENFORCEMENT: self-inspection, ISOO review, and sanctions at 5.5. │ There is no private right of action. An authorized holder who │ thinks 1.7 was violated uses the challenge track below. │ ├─◆ PART 2 — THE MULTIPLIER: DERIVATIVE CLASSIFICATION [Part 2] │ │ This is where essentially all classification actually happens. │ │ │ ├─ WHO: anyone who reproduces, extracts, summarizes or restates classified │ │ information, or applies markings from a classification guide. │ │ ─▶ NO original classification authority is required. [2.1] │ ├─ DUTIES: identify yourself on the document · observe and respect the │ │ original decision · carry forward markings and declassification │ │ instructions · ⏱ training at least every 2 years [2.1(b)-(d)] │ ├─ CLASSIFICATION GUIDES: agency-written instructions that pre-decide the │ │ level for whole subject areas; thousands government-wide, some running │ │ hundreds of pages. [2.2] │ │ ─▶ THE LEVERAGE POINT: changing one guide reclassifies or declassifies │ │ a whole category of future documents without any single decision │ │ that looks like a classification decision. │ └─ SCALE: ~99.88% of classification decisions in 2017 were DERIVATIVE, not │ original. [Brennan Center, 2022] │ ─▶ so the four documented gates in Part 1 govern roughly one decision │ in a thousand. The rest run on guides written earlier. │ ├─◆ PART 3 — THE FOUR EXITS [Part 3] │ │ Authority to declassify: the originating OCA, that official's │ │ successor or supervisor, or an official with delegated declassification │ │ authority. "Public interest" declassification is reserved to agency │ │ heads and senior agency officials. [3.1] │ │ │ ├─ EXIT 1 — AUTOMATIC DECLASSIFICATION AT 25 YEARS ⏱ ⚖ [3.3] │ │ │ The only exit that runs without anyone asking. │ │ │ Permanent historical value + 25 years old ──▶ declassified on │ │ │ 31 December of the 25th year, whether or not it was reviewed. │ │ │ │ │ ├─ ◇ DOES AN EXEMPTION APPLY? nine categories, 3.3(b)(1)-(9): │ │ │ (1) human intelligence source · (2) cryptologic systems │ │ │ (3) WMD design concepts · (4) foreign-relations damage │ │ │ (5) nat.-sec. emergency plans / vulnerabilities │ │ │ (6) foreign-government confidences · (7) war plans in effect │ │ │ (8) U.S. relations violating a statute/treaty · (9) protective │ │ │ services for the President and successors │ │ │ ⚖ exemptions require PANEL approval; declass. guides reviewed │ │ ├─ ⏱ 50 YEARS — only (1) human sources and (2) key cryptologic │ │ │ systems, absent Panel approval of a narrow further exemption │ │ ├─ ⏱ 75 YEARS — requires ISCAP approval, case by case │ │ ├─ REFERRALS: records containing another agency's equity are referred; │ │ │ ★ ISOO Notice 2026-04 (Aug 2026) reissued the list of agencies │ │ │ eligible to RECEIVE referrals at 25, 50 and 75 years │ │ └─ RUN BY: the NATIONAL DECLASSIFICATION CENTER at the National │ │ Archives, which coordinates the multi-agency review [3.7] │ │ FY2023 staffing: 442.7 FTE on automatic declassification │ │ government-wide. [ISOO FY2023] │ │ │ ├─ EXIT 2 — SYSTEMATIC DECLASSIFICATION REVIEW ⏱ ⬛ [3.4] │ │ The cleanup crew for EXIT 1. Agencies must establish a program to │ │ review the permanent records they EXEMPTED from automatic │ │ declassification. The Archivist runs it for records accessioned │ │ into the National Archives. │ │ ─▶ no requester, no deadline per document, no appeal. This exit is │ │ the one with the least external visibility of the four. │ │ FY2023 staffing: 88.7 FTE government-wide. [ISOO FY2023] │ │ │ ├─ EXIT 3 — MANDATORY DECLASSIFICATION REVIEW (MDR) ⏱ ⚖ [3.5] │ │ │ THE PUBLIC'S EXIT. Anyone may file; no standing, no fee regime │ │ │ like FOIA's, and the request is for a REVIEW, not for records. │ │ │ │ │ ├─ 1. FILE — must describe the document specifically enough to be │ │ │ located with a reasonable effort │ │ │ ✕ barred if: in litigation · in an exempted operational file · │ │ │ reviewed within the past 2 years │ │ ├─ 2. ⏱ AGENCY DECISION — 1 year to decide [3.5(a), 3.6] │ │ ├─ 3. ◇ DENIED? ──▶ ⏱ 60 days to appeal within the agency │ │ ├─ 4. ⏱ AGENCY APPEAL — 60 working days to decide, or the requester │ │ │ may go straight to the Panel │ │ └─ 5. ──▶ ⚖ ISCAP [5.3] — the only route by which a member of the │ │ public reaches a decisionmaker outside the agency that said no │ │ FY2023 dispositions: 74,094 pages declassified in full · 66,911 in │ │ part · 16,588 denied. [ISOO FY2023] │ │ │ └─ EXIT 4 — DISCRETIONARY / PRESIDENTIAL RELEASE ✕ [3.1] │ │ ★ THE 2026 EXIT. No clock. No form. No reviewing body. │ │ │ ├─ WHO: the President, or an official to whom he says the authority │ │ is delegated. ★ 1 Jul 2026, on the record at Joint Base │ │ Andrews, re: then-acting DNI Bill Pulte: "I said you can │ │ declassify whatever you want." [Nextgov, 1 Jul 2026] │ ├─ ORIGINATING-AGENCY CONSULTATION: standard practice, and the whole │ │ mechanism by which an equity-holder's objection is heard. │ │ ─▶ NOT a legal prerequisite for the President. │ ├─ ◇ MUST IT BE WRITTEN DOWN? ─── CONTESTED, UNRESOLVED ─── │ │ NO — Just Security: no written record is legally required; the │ │ order imposes no declassification procedure that binds the │ │ President, and documentation is best practice. Informal │ │ precedents cited: the bin Laden announcement; posts. │ │ YES — Brennan Center, and the 2d Cir. in NYT v. CIA: │ │ "declassification, even by the President, must follow │ │ established procedures"; and the decision must at minimum │ │ be COMMUNICATED — no declassifying by thinking about it. │ │ ─▶ WHAT TURNS ON IT: whether a document is still classified │ │ determines the marking, the handling, the clearance needed to │ │ read it, and whether anyone was ever told it changed. It does │ │ NOT determine criminal exposure for retention or transmission: │ │ several statutes reach national-defense information whether or │ │ not it carries a classification marking. │ └─ ★ IN USE, JULY 2026: a primetime address released raw intelligence │ reports, a 25 Jun 2020 President's Daily Brief item, a Dec 2021 │ internal email, technical assessments, a Jun 2026 CIA summary and │ a Jul 2020 CIA WIRe assessment — heavily redacted. A White House │ review, reported as led by John Solomon, assembled the material. │ ✕ The selection criteria are not public and no body reviews them. │ ├─◆ THE PARALLEL TRACK THAT IS NOT AN EXIT — FOIA EXEMPTION 1 │ 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(1) withholds matters "specifically authorized under │ criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the │ interest of national defense or foreign policy" AND properly classified. │ ─▶ FOIA runs ALONGSIDE the exits above, on its own clock and in Article │ III court. But Exemption 1 is parasitic on classification: a FOIA │ court asks whether the document is properly classified, not whether it │ should be. Winning a FOIA case does not declassify anything. │ ─▶ So the public has two doors: MDR, which attacks the classification │ and ends at ISCAP; and FOIA, which attacks the withholding and ends │ in court. Neither reaches EXIT 4. │ ├─◆ THE APPEAL SPINE — and where it terminates │ │ │ ├─ CLASSIFICATION CHALLENGE [1.8] — an AUTHORIZED HOLDER (not the public) │ │ who believes information is improperly classified is "encouraged and │ │ expected" to challenge it. │ │ ├─ protection from retribution is required by the order │ │ ├─ ⏱ agency must respond substantively within 120 days │ │ └─ ──▶ ⚖ ISCAP │ │ FY2023: one challenge administratively closed; NONE adjudicated. │ │ [ISOO FY2023] │ ├─ ⚖ INTERAGENCY SECURITY CLASSIFICATION APPEALS PANEL (ISCAP) [5.3] │ │ MEMBERS — senior representatives of: State · Defense · Justice · │ │ the National Archives · ODNI · the National Security Advisor. │ │ The CIA Director may appoint a temporary representative where an │ │ appeal concerns CIA information. │ │ CHAIR — designated by the President from among the members │ │ [unconfirmed: not publicly named as of October 2026] │ │ EXECUTIVE SECRETARY — the Director of ISOO, ex officio │ │ JURISDICTION — three things, and only three: │ │ 1.8 classification challenges · 3.5 MDR appeals · │ │ 3.3 agency requests to exempt from automatic declassification │ │ ★ BACKLOG: more than 1,200 pending appeals. More than half the docket │ │ comes from agencies that MISSED their own response deadlines. │ │ [ISOO, 18 Aug 2026] │ │ ★ REFORM: ISOO Notice 2026-05, signed by Director Michael D. Thomas │ │ 17 Aug 2026 — precedent-setting case selection, batched decisions, │ │ votes on REMANDING missed-deadline cases back to agencies, and a │ │ requirement that agencies fold ISCAP precedent into their own │ │ classification guides, verified by ISOO compliance inspections. │ │ ─▶ note what the reform targets: the agencies' clocks, not the │ │ Panel's own. The 1,200 cases are the symptom. │ │ ★ IN USE: 11 Sep 2026, ISCAP released 9/11 Commission records on │ │ appeals 2022-008 and 2023-001 — a ~7,000-word summary of │ │ presidential intelligence briefings plus eleven Memoranda for the │ │ Record. Residual withholdings under 3.3(b)(1),(4),(5),(7),(8). │ └───▶ ◇ APPEAL FROM ISCAP? │ ──▶ THE PRESIDENT. And no further. │ ─▶ An ISCAP declassification ruling binds the whole executive branch │ and is appealable to no court and no other body. │ ├─◆ THE OVERSIGHT LAYER — who watches the machine │ ├─ INFORMATION SECURITY OVERSIGHT OFFICE (ISOO) [5.2] │ │ Within the National Archives. Director appointed by the ARCHIVIST │ │ with the approval of the PRESIDENT — so the overseer's appointment │ │ runs through the President, like the authority being overseen. │ │ Director: Michael D. Thomas. Functions: implementing directives, │ │ on-site compliance reviews, complaints, and an ANNUAL REPORT TO THE │ │ PRESIDENT. ─▶ the report goes to the official being described. │ ├─ NATIONAL DECLASSIFICATION CENTER (NDC) [3.7] │ │ Within the National Archives. Runs EXIT 1 and coordinates referrals. │ ├─ ARCHIVIST OF THE UNITED STATES │ │ ★ Bradford P. Wilson, in office since 21 Aug 2026 — after a seat │ │ that was fired-into-vacancy, held by two acting officials and │ │ empty outright from 5 Feb to 2 Apr 2026. │ ├─ PUBLIC INTEREST DECLASSIFICATION BOARD — advisory; recommends, cannot │ │ declassify, and has no role in any of the four exits │ ├─ CUI — the parallel control system for information that is NOT │ │ classified. ★ ISOO Notices 2026-07 and 2026-08 (Sep 2026) revised │ │ the executive-agent guidance and the waiver requirements. │ │ ─▶ matters here because information can be withheld under CUI │ │ without ever entering the classification system, and therefore │ │ without ever being eligible for any of the four exits. │ └─ SANCTIONS [5.5] — reprimand to removal, and loss of access, for │ knowing classification abuse. Agency-administered. ⬛ │ └─◆ THE ASYMMETRY — read down the three columns ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ NODE FORM CLOCK OUTSIDE REVIEW ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ENTRANCE original classification [1.3] yes yes ISOO inspection ⬛ derivative classification[2.1] yes - ISOO inspection ⬛ reclassification [1.7(c)] yes yes notice to ISOO ⬛ ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── EXITS EXIT 1 automatic at 25y [3.3] yes yes ISCAP on exemptions ⚖ EXIT 2 systematic review [3.4] yes - none ⬛ EXIT 3 MDR [3.5] yes yes ISCAP ⚖ EXIT 4 discretionary [3.1] - - none ✕ ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── CHALLENGE / APPEAL challenge [1.8] yes 120 d ISCAP ⚖ ISCAP ruling [5.3] yes - the President only ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Three of the four exits have a form, a clock and a body. The fourth has none of the three, and in July 2026 it was the exit in use. The appeal spine for the other three terminates in the same office that operates it. ``` ## Notes - **The order is still the 2009 order, and that is itself worth stating.** No successor or amending executive order on classified national security information was issued in 2025 or 2026. [[Executive Order 13526]] remains the framework. The second-term orders that touch this territory act *through* the existing system rather than replacing it: Executive Order 14176 (Jan 2025) directed release of the JFK, RFK and MLK assassination records; EO 14367 (Dec 2025) designated fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction, which arguably touches category 1.4(h), though no classification-guide consequence has been reported and this page does not assert one. The absence of a replacement order is a fact as of October 2026, not a prediction. - **The written-record question is genuinely contested, and this page does not resolve it.** The Brennan Center's position is that E.O. 13526 contains no declassification procedure binding on the President and that documentation is best practice rather than requirement — while also stating that a president cannot declassify "by thinking about it" without communicating the decision to anyone. Just Security's "Dispelling Myths" explainer goes further, arguing that no written record is legally required and disputing the Second Circuit's statement in *NYT v. CIA* that "declassification, even by the President, must follow established procedures." A Bush-era Justice Department memo reportedly took the view that presidents may waive or modify an executive order through their actions without public notice, and there is no public indication it was withdrawn. Two things follow. First, the sources agree on the structural asymmetry and disagree on the legal rule — which is why the chart marks this node as contested rather than settled. Second, the practical stakes are narrower than the rhetoric: the classification status of a document controls its marking, handling and access, but several criminal statutes reach national-defense information regardless of classification, so "it was declassified" is not a general answer to a retention or transmission charge. - **The scale figure is the one most worth internalizing.** Roughly **99.88 percent of classification decisions in 2017 were derivative**, per the Brennan Center. The four carefully documented gates in Part 1 therefore govern about one decision in a thousand. The other 999 are made by employees applying classification guides written earlier by someone else — which is why the guides at 2.2, and not the original-classification authority at 1.3, are the real leverage point in the system. Changing a guide reclassifies a whole category of future documents without producing a single decision that looks like a classification decision. - **Officeholders (verified October 2026).** Director of ISOO and ISCAP Executive Secretary: Michael D. Thomas, per the National Archives' own ISOO director page, which does not give an appointment date; he signed ISOO Notice 2026-05 on 17 August 2026. Archivist of the United States: [[Bradford P. Wilson]], nominated 2 March 2026, in office since 21 August 2026. Director of National Intelligence: [[Jay Clayton]], confirmed 28 July 2026, replacing then-acting DNI [[Bill Pulte]]. ISCAP chair: designated by the President from among the member agencies' representatives and **[unconfirmed]** — no public naming of the current chair could be found, and an absence of sources is not a finding. - **The Archivist's seat is load-bearing and was unstable for eighteen months.** ISOO and the NDC both sit inside the National Archives, and the ISOO Director is appointed by the Archivist with presidential approval. The seat ran: [[Colleen Shogan]] confirmed, fired 7 February 2025; William J. Bosanko acting for nine days; [[Marco Rubio]] acting while Secretary of State from 16 February 2025 to 4 February 2026; vacant outright 5 February to 2 April 2026; Edward Forst acting to 21 August 2026; Wilson since. The oversight layer for the classification system therefore spent most of 2025 and early 2026 reporting to a seat held by an official whose day job was running the State Department. - **The ISCAP backlog is a deadline-compliance problem, not a volume problem.** ISOO's own 18 August 2026 post puts pending appeals above 1,200 and states that **more than half the docket comes from agencies that missed required deadlines for responding to appellants.** That reframes the backlog: the Panel is not drowning in new filings, it is absorbing cases that should have been resolved at the agency stage. Notice 2026-05's remand mechanism attacks exactly that, by letting the Panel vote cases back and then tracking whether the agency decides on time. Whether the remand creates a loop for the appellant — back to the agency that already blew the clock — is an open question. - **The ISCAP and staffing figures on this page are FY2023.** The Archives lists an FY2024 Annual Report to the President as its most recent, which was not retrievable when this page was written, so the figures here are from FY2023. The FY2023 figures used here — 696/979/3 OCAs across 17 agencies; 18 MDR appeals decided, 29 administratively closed, 14 received; 74,094 pages declassified in full, 66,911 in part, 16,588 denied; 442.7 and 88.7 FTE on automatic and systematic declassification; 1,877 FTE on declassification overall — are ISOO's own. ISOO cautions that its agency-reported cost figures use inconsistent methods and are likely unreliable, which is why no total system cost appears on this page. - **The July 2026 release is the live instance of EXIT 4, and its mechanism is the point.** On 16 July 2026 a primetime address released intelligence the President said showed U.S. voting systems vulnerable to foreign attack. The material included raw intelligence reports, a 25 June 2020 President's Daily Brief item, a December 2021 internal email, technical assessments, a June 2026 CIA summary on Venezuelan election manipulation and a July 2020 CIA WIRe assessment, much of it heavily redacted. Press reporting describes a White House review led by John Solomon as having assembled it. Just Security's readout notes the public cannot see how the material was selected, that redactions hide source descriptions and analytic discussion, and that ODNI owes Congress the complete record. A White House Government Transparency Task Force fact sheet followed on 30 July 2026, approved by the directors of ODNI, NSA, CIA and DHS; the fact sheet does not describe the Task Force's establishing instrument, leadership or mandate, and names the President as the only declassifying actor. This page takes no position on the contents. It records that the release ran through the one exit with no form, no clock and no reviewing body. - **Three open questions.** (1) The ISCAP chair is unnamed publicly and is marked `[unconfirmed]` rather than guessed. (2) Whether the 1 July 2026 "declassify whatever you want" statement about then-acting DNI Pulte constituted a delegation of declassification authority under 3.1, a direction to use existing authority, or neither, is unresolved — former officials quoted at the time said declassifying another agency's intelligence would violate the law, and ODNI did not comment. (3) No instance was found of ISOO invoking the 1.7(c) reclassification-notice requirement or the 5.5 sanctions in 2025–26, and an absence of sources is not a finding. - **What this map does not cover.** Restricted Data and Formerly Restricted Data under the Atomic Energy Act run on an entirely separate statutory scheme and are not E.O. 13526 information at all. Access determinations — clearances, SCI read-ons, SAP indoctrination — are [[How a Security Clearance Is Granted and Revoked]], not this page. Classified information in criminal trials is its own machine. Presidential records and the custody question are [[Presidential Records Act]] and [[Mar-a-Lago Documents Case]] territory; this page maps the status, not the custody. ## See also - [[How a Security Clearance Is Granted and Revoked]] — the companion half: who may see what this page classifies, and the same status-versus-permission split - [[Executive Order 13526]] — the framework instrument, section by section - [[Department of the Navy v. Egan]] — the case that locates the authority in Article II rather than in the order - [[Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel]] · [[Information Security Oversight Office]] · [[National Declassification Center]] — the three bodies that run the exits and the appeal spine - [[National Archives]] — the agency all three sit inside - [[Intelligence Community Tree]] · [[ODNI]] · [[CIA]] · [[NSA]] — the producers of most of what enters the system - [[Freedom of Information Act]] — the parallel track, and why Exemption 1 is parasitic on classification - [[Presidential Records Act]] · [[Mar-a-Lago Documents Case]] — the custody questions this page is deliberately not about - [[Espionage Act]] — the statutory exposure that does not depend on a classification marking - [[How an Executive Order Is Issued and Challenged]] — the instrument that created this framework and could replace it - [[Sanctions Designation Pipeline]] · [[Special Counsel Appointment and Removal Flow]] · [[How a Federal Employee Is Fired]] — the sibling "form, clock and forum" maps in this folder - [[Oversight and Accountability Hub]] · [[Federal Agencies Hub]] · [[Foundations Hub]]