FOIA News: A toothless take on FOIA

Abolish FOIA

FOIA has no teeth and bureaucrats abuse its exemptions. Just redact and release every federal workers' emails instead.

By C.J. Ciaramella, Reason, Dec. 2024

Over the past decade I've submitted hundreds of records requests to federal agencies through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). I've written extensively about the law, taught college students how to file requests, and evangelized the importance of having a statutory right to inspect public records.

I love FOIA. And I hate it. The federal FOIA law is broken and should be replaced with something better.

FOIA requests can take years to fulfill, unless you can afford to hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit. Agency FOIA officers routinely abuse exemptions to hide records. The process is difficult even for experienced reporters to use for newsgathering.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Recap of CFO Council meeting

The Office of Government Information Services has posted a recap of the Chief FOIA Officers Council meeting held on Friday, November 7, 2024.

FOIA News: Texas AG seeks to preserve Special Counsel's Trump files; FOIA request still pending

Texas Seeks to Stop Special Counsel From Erasing Trump Files

By Bernie Pazanowski, Bloomberg Law, Nov. 12, 2024

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) asked a federal court to prevent special counsel Jack Smith from destroying documents related to his investigation and prosecution of president-elect Donald Trump.

After Trump won reelection, Paxton’s office filed a Freedom of Information Act request for records from Smith’s investigation into Trump’s alleged criminal activities during his first term as president. Fearing that Smith will destroy the records, Paxton seeks a temporary restraining order from the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The case was assigned to Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, who was appointed by Trump.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Sierra Club boss vows ‘massive FOIA operation’

Sierra Club boss vows ‘massive FOIA operation’

By Robin Bravender, E&E News, Nov. 7, 2024

The Sierra Club plans to launch a “massive FOIA operation” to keep tabs on the incoming Trump administration, the green group’s leader said Thursday.

The club will be watching President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming appointees “very, very closely,” Executive Director Ben Jealous told reporters Thursday. “You can anticipate that we will have a massive FOIA operation up and running, and we will go after them very aggressively.”

Read more here.

FOIA News: FOIA Advisory Committee to meet on Dec. 5th

The federal FOIA Advisory Committee will hold its third meeting of the 2024-2026 term on December 5, 2024, according to a Federal Register notice issued today by the Office of Government Information Services. The meeting will be virtual and is open to the public. Meeting materials will be posted here.

FOIA News: DC Circuit to hear argument in Glomar case

On Monday, November 4, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear oral argument in Project for Privacy & Surveillance Accountability, Inc. v. Department of Justice (No. 22-5303).

PPSA seeks records from six agencies about the possible surveillance of 48 Members of Congress who serve or served on intelligence oversight committees. Those agencies have refused to confirm or deny the existence of responsive records, however, and a lower court ruled that the government’s Glomar responses were appropriate.

Livestream audio will be available here.

FOIA News: Feds flooded with requests for controversial emails

Conservative outfits are scouring feds’ emails

Right-leaning groups have filed tens of thousands of information requests as Donald Trump plans a scorched-earth reign over civil servants.

By Robin Bravender, E&E News, Oct. 30, 2024

As former President Donald Trump vows to “shatter the deep state” and make it easier to fire “rogue bureaucrats,” some of his former aides and conservative think tanks have been collecting federal officials’ internal emails.

The expansive records requests — including some that target career civil servants’ communications — are causing concern among government employees and their allies who fear that an incoming Trump administration might try to use the information they obtain to purge career workers from the federal government.

Read more here.

FOIA News: DOJ soliciting nominations for FOIA awards

OIP Now Accepting Nominations for the 2025 Sunshine Week FOIA Awards

By DOJ/OIP, FOIA Post, Oct. 30, 2024

The Department of Justice, Office of Information Policy (OIP) is pleased to announce that nominations are open for the 2025 Sunshine Week FOIA Awards, recognizing the contributions of FOIA professionals from around the government.  Each year, the number of nominations submitted to OIP to recognize the exceptional achievements of federal FOIA employees grows.  As such, OIP is opening the nomination window earlier this year than in previous years to allow more time for review of submissions.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Another FOIA discussion on Nov. 1st

On November 1, 2024, the Yale Law School will host a panel discussion entitled “Algorithmic Sunshine,” which will consider “how some cutting-edge technologies can make transparency and accountability more efficient and effective.” Speakers include Abdi Aidid (Yale), Adam Marshall (Reporters Committee of Freedom of the Press), Michael Morisy (MuckRock), Bobak Talebian (Department of Justice, Office of Information Policy), and Ariana Tobin (Pro Publica). The discussion is part of the law school’s two-day Access & Accountability 2024 conference.

We previously reported that George Washington University’s law school will host a day-long FOIA program on November 1, 2024, to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1974 FOIA amendments.

FOIA News: Contractors’ demographic data requested

Federal Contractor EEO-1 Demographic Data Set to be Released Again

By Evan Szarenski & Joanna Colosimo, DCI Consulting, Oct. 28, 2024

Tomorrow, October 29, 2024, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is scheduled to publish a Notice in the Federal Register regarding two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for 2021 Type 2 Consolidated Employer Information Reports (EEO-1 Reports) filed by federal contractors.​ The requests were made by the University of Utah and a non-profit organization named "As You Sow."​  

OFCCP believes the requested information may be protected under FOIA Exemption 4, which covers confidential commercial information, but has not yet made a determination. 

​The notice informs federal contractors who filed these reports in 2021 that they have 40 days from the publication date of the Notice to submit objections to the disclosure of their information.​  

Read more here.