The National Archives and Records Administration hopes to reduce the time it takes to start complex FOIA requests for unclassified records by fiscal year 2026, according to its 2022-2026 Strategic Plan. NARA’s most complex FOIA requests can take as long as eight years before NARA can begin reviewing responsive records.
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'There is a big problem': Senators unite to slam FOIA compliance
The premier transparency law is hobbled by backlogs and mountains of electronic data, lawmakers are told.
By Josh Gerstein, Politico, Mar. 29, 2022
The often bitterly divided Senate Judiciary Committee had little difficulty Tuesday finding consensus that the nation’s premier transparency law, the Freedom of Information Act, isn’t working well.
“My conclusion from this is: there is a big problem,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said during an oversight hearing on the federal government’s ongoing struggle to implement the records-access law in a timely way.
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) said he believes the half-century-old statute allowing journalists, advocacy groups and members of the public to request federal agency records appears to be failing to live up to its original ambitions.
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The Department of Justice and Government Accountability Office have released the prepared remarks of their witnesses who appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 29, 2022.
Here are the prepared remarks of Bobak Talebian, Director, Office of Information Policy.
Here is the testimony of James R. McTigue, Jr., Director, Strategic Issues, Government Accountability Office.
Here is the testimony of Alina Semo, Director of the Office of Government Information Services.
The Department of Justice issued an announcement on March 25, 2022. requesting information from vendors to implement a “guided workflow or wizard assisting the public in using the National FOIA Portal.”
See the Request For Information here.
On Tuesday, March 29, 2022, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing entitled “The Freedom of Information Act: Improving Transparency and the American Public’s Right to Know for the 21st Century.” Witnesses include Bobak Talebian, Director, Office Of Information Policy; Alina M. Semo, Director, Office Of Government Information Services, and James R. McTigue, Jr., Director, Strategic Issues, Government Accountability Office. Live video will be available at 10:00 AM here.
According to annual data available on FOIA.gov, the following five agencies reported the highest median number of days to process simple, perfected requests in fiscal year 2021:
National Archives and Records Administration: 179 days
United States Institute of Peace: 173 days
Office of Management and Budget: 170 days
Advisory Council of Historic Preservation: 106 days
U..S Agency for Global Media: 99 days
Seven agencies reported median response times of one (1) day in FY 2021 for simple, perfected requests:
Department of Agriculture
Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation
Administrative Conference of the United States
Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission
Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation
Unpacking the New FOIA Memo
By Adira Levine, Yale J. on Reg., Mar. 24. 2022
This Sunshine Week brought much awaited Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) guidance from the Biden administration. On March 15, Attorney General (AG) Merrick Garland issued a FOIA memorandum directed to the heads of executive departments and agencies. The four-page memo announces Department of Justice (DOJ) guidelines established for the administration of FOIA. Its issuance was anticipated in light of historical precedent and sought after by transparency groups. In the memo, AG Garland focuses on four areas: the presumption of openness, proactive disclosures, removing access barriers and reducing request backlogs, and ensuring fairness and effectiveness in the FOIA process.
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Reporters Committee reviews Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s record on First Amendment, Freedom of Information Act cases
Judge Jackson authored dozens of FOIA-related opinions while serving on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Mar. 21, 2022
On Feb. 25, President Joe Biden nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to fill the U.S. Supreme Court seat of retiring Justice Stephen Breyer. In this report, the Reporters Committee surveys Judge Jackson’s decisions in First Amendment and Freedom of Information Act cases from her tenure on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Although Judge Jackson was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 2021, none of the opinions she authored for that court pertains to issues affecting journalists.
Perhaps most noteworthy to journalists is Judge Jackson’s extensive judicial record on FOIA. She has authored dozens of FOIA-related opinions while serving on the district court from 2013 through 2021. In the analysis below, the Reporters Committee has concluded that Judge Jackson’s FOIA rulings demonstrate a deference to agency exemption claims, especially in the national security context, but a willingness to deny an agency summary judgment where government officials failed to provide sufficient evidence to keep records hidden from the public. Her record also reveals a willingness to rule in favor of record requesters on non-exemption issues pertaining to the sufficiency of an agency’s search for records and record fee disputes.
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The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) is publishing for comment proposed revisions to its regulations under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The revisions are intended to incorporate amendments to the FOIA under the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, developments in the case law, and changes in Federal and EXIM policies. The proposed revisions are also intended to clarify procedural requirements. The proposed revisions occur throughout the FOIA regulations and are predominantly procedural in nature.
Comments should be received by April 21, 2022..
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Recognizing Sunshine Week
DHS, News Blog, Mar. 18, 2022
Sunshine Week is a moment to recognize one of the hallmarks of good government: an institution’s openness and transparency with respect to the work we perform and how we perform it. This fundamental principle speaks to any organization’s integrity and helps build trust between our government and the communities we serve.
As we carry out our critical homeland security missions, our Department is firmly committed to upholding the core ideal of accountability to the public while remaining guardians of people’s safety and security.
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