Someone who is “out of the loop” is uniformed or not given access to shared information, especially to information which is shared informally and on an continual basis, in a grapevine.
A person who is out of the loop may also have been excluded from a decision-making process.
Generally, being in the loop implies that someone is not only sharing information, but that they are part of an ongoing discussion about that information and how to use it. Being out of the loop implies the opposite.
Origin of “Out of the Loop”
There is some disagreement as to the exact origins of the phrase.
Some say that the term comes from aviation, and that it has to do with a plane’s control system.
Others argue that the expression refers to the military’s command and control feedback loop, which directs the communication between officers and enlisted men.
William Safire argued that in fact, “out of the loop” refers more generally to an electrical circuit.
The phrase may have been invented in the 1960s and 1970s, but it was first widely used during the Reagan administration during the Iran-Contra scandal.
Then, as William Safire pointed out, being out of the loop was actually a good thing, since it meant that a particular official couldn’t be blamed for the scandal.
During the Iran-contra scandal of the 1980’s, when the Reagan N.S.C. diverted funds to combat Communism in Latin America, Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush denied any knowledge of the scheme, memorably declaring that he had been out of the loop and was thus untainted.
When in the loop means ”those around the power center,” presidential aides assert their presence in the circle; when it suggests a conspiracy, out of the loop is the safe place to be.
Of course, politicians aren’t the only ones who get kept out of the loop.
In 2020, NBC came under fire for scheduling a town hall with President Donald Trump at the same time as ABC’s town hall with the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden. NBC anchor Chuck Todd was asked about the scheduling and replied, simply, “I was kept out of the loop.”
Todd went a step further and took his whole team out of the loop, explaining, “The political unit was kept out of the loop of this decision. This is a decision made by executives.”
Sometimes, being out of the loop is a problem, and something which people complain about.
Following the 2020 election, president-elect Biden and his team complained that they were denied access to key briefings during their transition period.
The Associated Press reported:
President-elect Biden’s scientific advisers plan to meet with vaccine makers in the coming days even as a stalled presidential transition keeps them out of the loop on government plans to inoculate Americans against COVID-19. Biden chief of staff Ron Klain says Trump’s refusal to accept that he lost the election means that the Biden team lacks a clear picture of the groundwork within the government for a mass vaccination campaign that will last the better part of next year.