House passes transparency bills on presidential records

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a pair of bills aimed at transparency in the White House — particularly for presidents gearing up to exit it, The Associated Press reported.

Both are now due before the Senate. One bill would make public future donations of $200 or more to presidential libraries, The AP said, and the other would roll back a 2001 Bush executive order allowing presidents to delay the release of their records. That bill also specifies that former vice presidents cannot "assert privilege over records," though former presidents can with approval.

The library transparency issue has been kicked around since the imbroglio over donations to the Clinton library in Arkansas, The AP reports. A similar bill was passed by the House last year but never got through the Senate.