FOIA News: Plain language report considers agency FOIA pages

On January 9, 2023, the Center for Plain Language issued its 11th annual report card evaluating how well agencies follow the Plain Writing Act. The Center examined two online pages of 21 executive branch agencies: the main Contact Us page and the main FOIA request page. The Department of Agriculture’s FOIA page was singled out as “exemplary,” while the Department of Commerce’s FOIA page was described as one that “needs work.”

See the full report here.

See related article from Government Executive here.

FOIA News: Get excited for a new and friendly government form

New Year, New Public Comments Form

By Office of Gov’t Info. Serv., FOIA Ombudsman, Jan. 9, 2023

As we begin a new year and say “hello” to 2023, we have news to share: OGIS is excited to announce our new public comments form. This new tool allows the public to submit their comments to the FOIA Advisory Committee, the Chief FOIA Officers Council, and the OGIS Annual Meeting while streamlining our internal process to create efficiencies. 

We value hearing from stakeholders in the federal FOIA landscape and written public comments are an important way for us—and the Committee and Council—to better understand the experiences of FOIA requesters.  One of our strategic goals at the National Archives and Records Administration is “Connect with Customers,” and as the FOIA Ombudsman, we do that every day by listening  to the FOIA process.  

Read more here.

FOIA News: Fifth U.S. Open Nat’l Action plan includes DOJ FOIA commitments

Some FOIA news from the Fifth U.S. Open National Action Plan released a few days ago. The U.S. Department of Justice has committed to take the following steps to bolster openness and transparency:

• Issuance of an updated FOIA Self-Assessment Toolkit, originally issued in 2017, to reflect, among other things, additional milestones for proactive disclosures, use of technology, and requirements of the Attorney 16 General’s new FOIA Guidelines.

• Leading a Chief FOIA Officer Council working group that will collaborate with the Office of Government Information Services at the National Archives and Records Administration, the Office of Shared Services & Performance Improvement at the Government Services Administration, and the Business Standards Council to develop shared FOIA business standards. The shared business standards will make it easier for agencies to acquire FOIA technology and, in turn, improve efficiency and consistency in processing requests across the Federal Government. Having established standards will also help industry create new solutions to meet agencies’ needs.

• Enhancement of the user experience on FOIA.gov, the Federal Government’s central website for FOIA, by developing an interactive tool to help members of the public more easily locate records that are already available online or find the right agency to submit their FOIA requests when information is not already posted online.

FOIA News: Yale asks SCOTUS to review denial of access to Trump campaign records

MFIA Fights for Trump’s Visitor Records and the Future of FOIA

By Yale Law School, Dec. 22, 2022

The Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic (MFIA) is asking the Supreme Court to review a lower court decision the clinic says dramatically restricts the scope of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The decision of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals allows the Secret Service to withhold records identifying visitors to former President Donald Trump before he took office simply because the Trump campaign requested confidentiality. 

“The Second Circuit’s decision that records used by a federal agency are exempt from disclosure under FOIA if they were obtained from a party that wanted them to remain confidential stands FOIA’s disclosure mandate on its head,” said Floyd Abrams Lecturer in Law and MFIA Director David Schulz ’78. “The ruling sets dangerous precedent that threatens to undermine government accountability.”

From November 2015 until he entered office in January 2017, Trump received Secret Service protection as a presidential candidate and President-elect. During this time, news reporting often addressed Trump’s meetings with lobbyists for major corporations and special interest groups. In September 2017, investigative journalist Richard Behar filed FOIA requests seeking records of visitors to Trump and his associates while Trump was under agency protection.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Nominations open for worst agency FOIA responses

It’s time once again: Share your transparency horror story with a nomination to The Foilies 2023

The Electronic Frontier Foundation and MuckRock partner once again to highlight what not to do when you work for the public

By Derek Kravitz, MuckRock, Dec. 19, 2022

We are now accepting submissions for The Foilies 2023, the annual project to give tongue-in-cheek awards to the officials and institutions that behave badly (or ridiculously) when served with a request for public records.

Compiled by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and MuckRock, The Foilies run as a cover feature in alternative newsweeklies across the United State, during Sunshine Week (March 12-18, 2023), through a partnership with the Association of Alternative Newsmedia.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Backlogs increased at top 3 agencies in FY 2022; DHS received 471k requests

The overdue FOIA requests of the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and Defense—the three most popular agencies for FOIA requesters—all increased in fiscal year 2022, according to quarterly data reported by DOJ’s website FOIA.gov.

• The Department of Homeland Security, which in FY 2021 received the most FOIA requests governmentwide (442,650 requests, or 53 percent), saw its backlog climb from 25,102 in FY 2021 to 60,688 in FY 2022—a 141 percent increase. DHS received 471,513 requests in FY 2022, the greatest number of requests DHS has ever received and a 6.5 percent increase from FY 2021. The Department processed 530,180 requests in FY 2022, the largest number of requests it has ever processed and a 13.4 percent increase from FY 2021.

• The Department of Justice, which in FY 2021 received the second most FOIA requests governmentwide (97,490 requests or 12 percent), allowed its backlog to rise from 49,959 in FY 2021 to 63,728 requests in FY 2022—a 27.5 percent increase. DOJ received 93,407 requests in FY 2022, while it processed 84,099 requests—an 11.4 percent increase from FY 2021.

• The backlog of the Department of Defense, which in FY 2021 received the third most FOIA requests governmentwide (52,805 or 6 percent), rose from 17,597 in FY 2021 to 18,708 in FY 2022—a 6.3 percent increase. DOD received 57,237 requests in FY 2022, an 8.4 percent increase from FY 2021; it processed 54,560 requests in FY 2022 versus 50,703 requests in FY 2022.

FOIA News: FOIA operating procedures are tough to get, says digital rights group

Federal Agencies Keep Rejecting FOIA Requests for Their Procedures for Handling FOIA Requests

By Beryl Lipton, Elec. Frontier Found., Dec. 16, 2022

The majority of federal agencies — including law enforcement agencies like Customs and Border Protection — are refusing to release some of the most basic guidance materials used by their Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) offices: procedures for how they do their jobs.

Government Attic, a website that regularly files FOIA requests and posts the provided records, estimates that at least 60 percent of federal agencies, when faced with filling requests for FOIA standard operating procedures (SOP), claimed that the documents are in draft form and exempt from disclosure or that they don’t have any such records at all. 

Read more here.

FOIA News: NARA proposes to release Hunter Biden emails

The National Archives wants to release hundreds of pages of emails about Hunter Biden and Burisma — and the White House won't say whether it will let it happen.

By Mattathias Schwartz, Business Insider, Dec. 14, 2022 

• The emails are from 2014, when President Joe Biden served as vice president under former President Barack Obama.

• The White House now has 60 days to decide whether to stop the release of the emails by invoking executive privilege. 

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is quietly preparing to release hundreds of pages of internal Obama White House records that could contain information about Hunter Biden's relationship with Ukrainian energy company Burisma, Insider has learned — and the Biden Administration, which could put a stop to it by invoking executive privilege, is refusing to say whether it will allow the release to go forward.

Read more here.

FOIA News: EEO-1 data to be released next month

Update: OFCCP Plans to Disclose EEO-1 Data for Non-Objecting Contractors Starting January 2023

By Abby Warren, Nat’l Law Rev., Dec. 13, 2022

As an update to our October 12, 2022 post regarding the deadline for federal contractors and first-tier subcontractors to object to disclosure of their Type 2 Consolidated EEO-1 reports from 2016 to 2020, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has provided federal contractors with more information regarding the release of such information.

Specifically, non-objecting contractors began receiving e-mails from the OFCCP as early as November 22, 2022, notifying them of the agency’s intent to release the EEO-1 data beginning on January 2, 2023. The e-mail stated that if the contractors believe the OFCCP sent this message to them in error – for example, if the company filed objections or did not meet the requirements for disclosure during a specific time period – contractors should reach out to the OFCCP as soon as possible, but no later than January 2, 2023.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Maryland, My Maryland

After a hiatus, the Maryland FOIA-mobile has returned. The owner’s identity is known, but will not be revealed here to protect his or her privacy.