There are many closed doors at the state Capitol in Olympia. 

Sometimes it’s understandable. Confidentiality can be necessary in politics and policymaking. There are also meetings and conversations among public officials where it is not. Where the doors should remain open.

Meetings we’ve pressed for information about and access to in recent days provide examples of this latter category. 

One was on nuclear energy. The other Gov. Bob Ferguson called with fellow statewide elected officials. 

Both are reminders of the reflexive lack of transparency and inclination to tightly control the flow of information, that are now deeply ingrained in today’s politics and reflected frequently in Ferguson’s administration.

Exhibit 1

In late September, the National Governors Association convened a two-day Nuclear Energy Policy Retreat in the Washington state Capitol building. The association’s description of the program indicated the meeting would conclude “with a state strategic plan to pursue their Governor designated objectives” around nuclear policy.

There were panels on nuclear waste and the economics of nuclear power, among other topics. Representatives from the nuclear industry, utilities, companies like Amazon and Microsoft (which both have an interest in nuclear power for their data centers), and state agencies were all set to attend, according to the agenda.

One session was moderated by Department of Commerce Director Joe Nguyễn, who is a Ferguson appointee, and featured state legislators and others.

State officials discussing the future of nuclear energy at the state Capitol. It seems like a matter of public interest. We inquired with Commerce and the governor’s office to see if the event would be open to press. And so began the runaround.

A Commerce spokesperson told us it was not and that she had no information about who at the state level helped organize the event where the agency’s leader was speaking. 

The spokesperson referred us to the governor’s office – not unexpected given Ferguson’s efforts to ensure responses from agencies to the press are routed through his staff.

The governor’s office deferred questions about press access to the National Governors Association, offered no assistance with gaining access, and ignored queries about who’d organized the event. Though they said the governor would not attend.

The association, which gets money from taxpayer-funded dues that states pay, then denied us access. The group’s press secretary described the event – featuring an agency director, lawmakers and more than 100 attendees, including some from the nation’s most powerful companies – as “a small group of state staff and specialists.”

Exhibit 2

When Ferguson’s office sent out a schedule update for the governor on Sept. 17, it showed a meeting between him and the other eight statewide elected officials. We asked for information about what would be discussed and who would attend.

The governor’s office didn’t provide any, even though an agenda had been sent to those invited. After further follow-up, we got a short statement from the governor’s office summarizing the meeting.

It largely mirrored social media posts Ferguson the following morning, complete with a glossy-looking photo of him speaking. He said the group discussed litigation, a new report “showing the devastation of Trump’s tariffs,” and protecting Washingtonians’ data from federal overreach.

“All of your statewide elected officials are working very hard to be extremely coordinated in dealing with what’s coming at us from Washington D.C.,” he wrote on X and Facebook.

Not mentioned in Ferguson’s recap are mounting state budget troubles that are not directly related to anything the federal government is doing.

We’d like to ask the governor about his views on the state’s fiscal situation, like his positions on approving more tax increases in 2026, and some of the significant budget requests that have recently emerged from state agencies.

But he continues to shun interviews. So we’re stuck prying written statements from his communications staff – like the one he issued on the state’s weakening revenues, where he again focused on Trump.

As for the meeting in question and Ferguson’s subsequent social media posts, it seems more like spectacle than governing, with the governor framing the sitdown in a way that underscores a core tenet of his political platform: He’s standing up to the president.

If it felt different in the room, we couldn’t tell you. The doors were closed to us.

Bill Lucia is the Washington State Standard’s editor-in-chief. This commentary is republished from the  Standard, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet that provides original reporting, analysis and commentary on state government and politics.