FOIA Advisor

FOIA News (2025)

FOIA News: The annual report deadline that wasn't

FOIA News (2025)Allan BlutsteinComment

On October 2, 2024, the Department of Justice announced that agencies would be required to publish their fiscal year 2024 annual FOIA reports on their websites no later than March 1, 2025. As I write this post at 4:15pm on March 4, 2025, however, DOJ and several other agencies that receive voluminous FOIA requests, including DHS, NARA, and Veterans Affairs, have not posted their reports. Nor has the government’s central FOIA website, FOIA.gov, been updated to include annual FY 2024 data. Is this a glitch in the Matrix or something else? Stay tuned.

FOIA News: FOIA doesn’t apply to DOGE, notes DOJ

FOIA News (2025)Allan BlutsteinComment

Trump Admin Argues DOGE Is Exempt From Records Requests in FOIA Lawsuit

Elon Musk promised "maximum transparency," but that apparently doesn't include Freedom of Information requests to DOGE.

By C.J. Ciaramella, Reason, Feb. 28, 2025

In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, the Trump administration is arguing that its much-hyped Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is exempt from public records requests.

Justice Department lawyers stated in a court filing Thursday that DOGE is no longer subject to FOIA requests after President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January moving DOGE, formerly U.S. Digital Services (USDS), out of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). OMB is subject to the public record law, unlike most of the offices and agencies within the Executive Office of the President.

"After January 20, 2025, USDS moved out of OMB and became a free-standing component of [the Executive Office of the President] that reports to the White House Chief of Staff," the government's motion stated in a footnote. "As a result, USDS is not subject to FOIA.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Transportation Dep't posts annual report

FOIA News (2025)Allan BlutsteinComment

The Department of Transportation has published its annual FOIA report for fiscal year 2024. Below is a summary of the key statistics:

  • 18,345 requests received, a 7 percent increase from FY 2023 (17,136).

  • 16,080 requests processed, a 2.2 percent decrease from FY 2023 (16,458).

  • 8,048 backlogged requests, a 36 percent increase from the end of FY 2023 (5,913).

  • 166 appeals received, more than twice as many as it received in FY 2023 (78).

  • 156 appeals processed, exactly twice as many as it processed in FY 2023 (78).

  • 226 backlogged appeals, three fewer (229) from the end of FY 2023.

  • Average responses time for processed perfected requests was 76.1 days for simple requests and 268.5 days for complex requests. NHTSA had the slowest response times of all components: 127.5 average days for simple requests and 552.1 average days for complex requests.

  • $17.2 million in total processing and litigation-related costs, a 7.5 percent decrease from the $18.6 million in total costs incurred in FY 2023.

FOIA News: Defense Dep't posts annual report

FOIA News (2025)Allan BlutsteinComment

The Department of Defense has published its annual FOIA report for fiscal year 2024. Below is a summary of the key statistics:

  • 61,858 requests received, a 2.9 percent increase from FY 2023 (60,109).

  • 57,662 requests processed, a 3.4 percent increase from FY 2023 (55,731).

  • 21,436 backlogged requests, a 7.8 percent increase from the end of FY 2023 (19,882).

  • 1105 appeals received, only three fewer than it received in FY 2023 (1108).

  • 1105 appeals processed, a 12.8 percent decrease from FY 2023 (1247)

  • 607 backlogged appeals, down 17.5 percent from the end of FY 2023 (736)

  • Average responses time for processed perfected requests was 30.3 days for simple requests and 199.7 days for complex requests.

  • $104.9 million in total processing and litigation-related costs, a 16.5 percent increase from the $90 million in total costs incurred in FY 2023.

FOIA News: CFO tech committee issues white paper

FOIA News (2025)Allan BlutsteinComment

New White Paper on FOIA Data from Chief FOIA Officer Council Technology Committee’s Working Group

BY DOJ/OIP, FOIA Post, Feb. 24, 2025

A white paper issued by the Chief FOIA Officer (CFO) Council Technology Committee’s Data Working Group (DWG) has been posted to FOIA.gov.  The white paper summarizes the DWG’s work, which included interviews with other FOIA programs to gain a better understanding of how they utilize data in managing their operations and how FOIA programs respond to FOIA requests for data.

Read more here.

FOIA News: HHS posts FY 2024 FOIA report

FOIA News (2025)Allan BlutsteinComment

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has published its annual FOIA report for fiscal year 2024. Below are the significant metrics.

  • 51,800 requests received, up 11.3 percent from 46,530 requests received in FY 2023.

  • 49,271 requests processed, up 4.5 percent from 47,038 requests processed in FY 2023

  • 12,685 requests in backlogged status, a 12.6 percent increase from 11,256 backlogged requests in FY 2023.

  • 730 appeals in backlogged status, up 14 percent from640 backlogged appeals in FY 2023.

  • $66.1 million in processing costs and $14.1 million for litigation ($80.2 million in total), more than double the $39.7 million in total costs incurred in FY 2023.

    $752k fees collected for processing requests.

FOIA News: New email language may shield more USAID communications from public view

FOIA News (2025)Kevin SchmidtComment

New email language may shield more USAID communications from public view

By Rebecca Heilweil, FedScoop, Feb. 20, 2025

Emails sent by employees of what remains of USAID now come with new language that could be meant to keep agency communications from public view. 

Two sources at the international development agency confirmed to FedScoop that emails sent from agency staff now contain the language “Sensitive But Unclassified.” The designation is used by federal agencies to denote a heightened responsibility to safeguard information. 

Read more here.