People who go to Capitol Hill on a mission of reform are used to leaving in disappointment. This time, though, advocates of government transparency really feel the pain. House Speaker John Boehner sent everyone home this week without voting on a bill that passed the Senate unanimously Monday, and a version of which passed his own chamber unanimously earlier this year.

Boehner evaded a question about the bill Thursday, and no one has taken credit for torpedoeing it. Ed Pilkington at the Guardian reported on suspects:

As Thursday night proceeded with no vote being called by the Republican leadership, several people involved in the procedural wrangling reported that lobbyists believed to be representing the banking industry were actively urging the bill to be sidelined. The lobbyists argued that provisions in the improvement bill would have exposed banks and financial houses to the public disclosure by federal regulators of sensitive commercial information – a contention fiercely disputed by freedom of information advocates.

Some in the media are also pointing the finger at themselves for failing to call more attention to the best chance of a better FOIA for years.

So there you have it - politicians as different as Sen. Patrick Leahy, Sen. Charles Grassley, Rep. Elijah Cummings and Rep. Darrell Issa want a bill to become law, but lobbyists can shoot it down behind closed doors. And the failure of the bill means more doors in the federal government will stay closed, as agencies drag their feet on releasing records or withhold them under dubious exemptions.