Jobs, jobs, jobs: Weekly report Aug. 26, 2024

Federal positions closing in the next ten days

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Def./DCSA, GG 12, Fort Meade, MD, closes 8/26/24 (non-public).

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Veterans Affairs/VBA, GS 13, Overland, MO, closes 8/26/24 (non-public).

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Treasury/IRS, GS 7-11, multiple locations, closes 8/26/24 (non-public).

Info. Mgmt. Specialist, Permitting Council, GS 13, remote, closes 8/27/24 (non-public).

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Army, GG 13, Fort Meade, MD, closes 8/28/24 (non-public).

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Veterans Affairs/VHA, GS 12, White City, OR, closes 8/28/24 (non-public).

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Veterans Affairs/VHA, GS 11-12, Asheville, NC, closes 9/5/24 (non-public).

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Treasury/IRS, GS 13, nationwide, closes 9/5/24 (non-public).

Court opinions issued Aug. 19, 2024

Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Wash. v. DOJ -- following in camera review of records related to DOJ’s monitoring of certain elections, finding that: (1) DOJ properly withheld some but not all records pursuant to Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege, and all of DOJ’s attorney work-product privilege withholdings were proper; (2) DOJ’s single-sentence justification of foreseeable harm was insufficient, but not fatal for withheld information whose sensitivity was “obvious in context”; and (3) DOJ failed to show that records withheld under Exemption 7(A) concerned pending proceedings or that disclosure would interfere with such proceedings.

Buzzfeed v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- concluding that: (1) Executive Office for United States Attorneys performed adequate search for communications of named U.S. Attorneys pertaining to a criminal case, but it failed to sufficiently specify search terms used to locate communications of named Assistant U.S. Attorneys; (2) granting EOUSA’s withholdings under Exemptions 7(A), 7(D), and 7(F) as conceded by plaintiff, but denying agency’s categorical withholdings under Exemptions 5, 6, and 7(C) because agency offered only “broad explanations supporting the applicability of [the exemptions] to generalized categories of documents.”

Abhyanker v. USPTO (N.D. Cal.) -- determining that: (1) Patent & Trade Office performed reasonably searches for specific records that plaintiff requested concerning agency’s disciplinary case against him; (2) agency properly withheld certain records pursuant to Exemption 5’s attorney work-product and deliberative process privilege, as well as Exemptions 6, 7(A), and 7(C).

Rolling Stone LLC v. DOJ (S.D.N.Y.) -- denying plaintiff’s motion to compel DOJ to apply for an Open America stay because the motion was “really just a veiled request” to expedite DOJ’s ongoing production of documents and no “compelling need” for expedition existed.

Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2024 are available here. Earlier opinions are available here.

FOIA News: DOJ training dates for FY25

OIP Announces New FOIA Training Dates for Fiscal Year 2025

DOJ/OIP, FOIA Post, Aug. 21, 2024

Today, the Office of Information Policy (OIP) announces new dates for FOIA training during for the first half of Fiscal Year 2025.  As part of its responsibility to encourage agency compliance with the FOIA, OIP offers numerous training opportunities throughout the year for agency FOIA professionals and individuals with FOIA responsibilities. 

These courses are designed to offer training opportunities for personnel from all stages of the FOIA workforce, from new hires to the experienced FOIA professionals or FOIA managers.  OIP will continue to offer virtual training sessions that will be taught in real-time by OIP instructors.  We will announce more training opportunities for the spring and summer at a later date.  As Fiscal Year 2025 quickly approaches, we are excited to announce our upcoming virtual training courses. You can find these courses, listed on OIP’s Training page.

Read more here.

Court opinions issued Aug. 16, 2024

Brodsky v. FBI (N.D. Ill.) -- finding after in camera review that: (1) FBI properly relied on Exemptions 3, 5, 6, 7(C), 7(D), and 7(E) to withhold records pertaining to plaintiff; and (2) FBI properly refused to confirm or deny the existence of records concerning specific third parties pursuant to Exemptions 6 and 7(C).

Organized Cmtys. Against Deportations v. ICE (N.D. Ill.) -- following in camera review of sample documents concerning agency’s Citizens Academy, ruling that Agency properly withheld records pursuant to Exemptions 6 and 7(E).

Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2024 are available here. Earlier opinions are available here.

FOIA News: OGIS officially announces first two advisory committee meetings

The Office of Government Information Services has announced that the federal FOIA Advisory Committee for the 2024-2026 term will hold its first two meetings on Monday, September 9, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT, and Friday, September 13, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT. The first meeting will be held in person; the second will be virtual only. See more details in the Federal Register notice.

FOIA News: FOIA requests do not confer standing in constitutional case against CPSC, opines professor

Supreme Court Should Not Review Phony Separation of Powers Case

By Alan B. Morrison, Regulatory Rev., Aug. 19, 2024

At the U.S. Supreme Court’s September conference, it will be asked, in Consumers’ Research v. Consumer Product Safety Commission, to grant review and decide an important separation of powers question: whether the statutory provision that protects the five Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) commissioners from being removed from office at-will by the President, except for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office, is constitutional. However, because the petitioners lack standing, the Court should deny review and await a case in which the issue is properly presented.

* * *

To begin, the petitioners, including Consumers’ Research, are not manufacturers or sellers of a product that the CPSC regulates; they are not subject to any CPSC regulations; and they have not had any enforcement actions brought against them. They also do not allege that the CPSC has, for example, failed to regulate toys such that their children are placed in danger. Instead, they are two educational organizations that often submit requests for CPSC records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and they did so here.

Read more here.

Court opinions issued Aug. 15, 2024

Aug. 15, 2024

Huddleston v. FBI (E.D. Tex.) -- ruling that FBI could not categorically withhold hundreds of thousands of laptop records of Seth Rich pursuant to Exemption 7(A) without first conducting a document-by document review, and ordering agency to produce Vaughn Indices or to file a summary judgment motion by February 7, 2025.

Huddleston v. FBI (E.D. Tex.) -- denying plaintiff’s “corrected” summary judgment motion and concluding that: (1) plaintiff’s use of news articles as summary judgment evidence was inappropriate under the Federal Rules of Evidence; (2) adequacy of FBI’s search was not undermined by plaintiff’s speculation about the existence of unproduced records; and (3) plaintiff was not entitled to discovery regarding FBI’s search because he failed to establish agency acted in bad faith.

Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2024 are available here. Earlier opinions are available here.

Jobs, jobs, jobs: Weekly report Aug. 19, 2024

Federal positions closing in the next 10 days:

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Def./OSD, GS 13, Alexandria, VA, closes 8/19/24.

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Def./ESD, GS 9-12, Alexandria, VA, closes 8/19/24.

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Veterans Affairs/VHA, GS 11-12, Johnson City, TN, closes 8/19/24 (agency only).

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Health & Human Serv./HRSA, GS 12, Rockville, MD, closes 8/21/24 (non-public).

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Veterans Affairs/VHA, GS 12, Cleveland, OH, closes 8/21/24 (non-public).

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Treasury/IRS, GS 14, multiple locations, closes 8/22/24 (non-public).

Att’y-Advisor, Envtl. Prot. Agency, GS 11-12, Wash., DC, closes 8/23/24.

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Def./DCSA, GG 12, Fort Meade, MD, closes 8/26/24 (or 100 applications) (non-public).

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Veterans Affairs/VBA, GS 13, Overland, MO, closes 8/26/24 (non-public).

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Treasury/IRS, GS 7-11, multiple locations, closes 8/26/24 (non-public).

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Army, GG 13, Fort Meade, MD, closes 8/28/24 (non-public).

FOIA News: Archivist announces new federal FOIA Advisory Committee members

Archivist of the United States Appoints 2024–2026 FOIA Advisory Committee Members

Nat’l Archives & Records Admin., Press Release, Aug. 15, 2024

Archivist of the United States Dr. Colleen Shogan announced the appointment of 20 individuals to the National Archives and Records Administration’s 2024–2026 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Advisory Committee. The individuals named will serve a two-year term and will begin meeting in September 2024.

The FOIA Advisory Committee consists of no more than 20 individuals who are all FOIA experts from both inside and outside of government. Members of the FOIA Advisory Committee foster dialogue between the administration and the requester community, and develop recommendations for improving FOIA administration and proactive disclosures. Dr. Shogan has appointed the following individuals: 

Read more here.

Congratulations to FOIA Advisor’s Ryan Mulvey on his appointment.

Court opinion issued Aug. 13, 2024

Pomares v. U.S. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs (9th Cir.) -- affirming in part and reversing in part district court’s decision regarding the agency’s search for and processing of records concerning possible misconduct investigated by agency’s Inspector General; finding that: (1) the VA performed a reasonable search for responsive records, rejecting plaintiff’s argument that FOIA prohibits manual review of records for responsiveness; (2) the VA properly relied on Exemption 4 to withhold records obtained from consulting company pursuant to IG’s subpoena, rejecting plaintiff’s objections to the form of company’s objection letter and its incorporation by reference in agency’s Vaughn Index; (3) agency properly redacted names and contact information of employees and third parties under Exemption 6, except for names of third parties who lobbied Congress or the VA; and (4) agency failed to sufficiently explain how Exemption 7(E) applied to withheld interview transcripts generated by agency’s IG investigation.

Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2024 are available here. Earlier opinions are available here.