On January 20, 2025, the White House ordered all executive departments and agencies to refrain from filling vacant positions or creating new positions for the next 90 days, with exceptions for “military personnel of the armed forces or . . . positions related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety.” Additional exceptions include “positions requiring Presidential appointment or Senate confirmation, the appointment of officials to non-career positions in the Senior Executive Service or to Schedule A or C positions in the Excepted Service,” among others.
FOIA News: CEQ finalizes amendments to FOIA regulations; White House issues regulatory freeze
FOIA News (2025)CommentThe Council on Environmental Quality has finalized its amendments to the agency’s FOIA regulations following a 30-day notice and comment period, according to a final rule that was scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on January 21, 2025. The new rules were scheduled to become effective on February 20, 2025.
On January 20, 2025, however, the President issued a regulatory freeze that, among other things, ordered executive departments and agencies to “[i]mmediately withdraw any rules that have been sent to the OFR but not published in the Federal Register.“ It also ordered departments and agencies to “consider postponing for 60 days from the date of this memorandum the effective date for any rules that have been published in the Federal Register, or any rules that have been issued in any manner but have not taken effect, for the purpose of reviewing any questions of fact, law, and policy that the rules may raise.”
Jobs, jobs, jobs: Weekly report Jan. 20, 2025
Jobs jobs jobs (2025)CommentFederal positions closing in the next 10 days
Sup. Gov. Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Def./DCSA, GG 14, Boyers, PA, closes 1/20/25 (agency only).
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Army, GS 13, Ft. Belvoir, VA, closes 1/20/25 (non-public).
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of State, GS 9, Rosslyn, VA, closes 1/21/24 or first 50 applications (non-public).
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Veterans Affairs, GS 11-12, multiple locations, closes 1/21/25 (non-public).
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Health & Human Serv./NIH, GS 14, remote, closes 1/21/25 (public).
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Air Force, GS 9, Ramstein, Germany, closes 1/21/25 (non-public).
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Air Force, GS 9, Lackland AFB, TX, closes 1/22/25 (non-public).
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Agric./Forest Serv., GS 12-13, Wash., DC, closes 1/23/25 (non-public).
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Health & Human Serv./FDA, GS 13, Rockville, MD, closes 1/24/25 (non-public).
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Treasury/IRS, GS 14, nationwide locations, closes 1/24/25 (non-public).
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Air Force, NH 3, Scott AFB, IL, closes 1/27/25 (non-public).
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Def. Intelligence Agency, GG 13, Arlington, VA, closes 1/28/25 (public).
Federal positions closing on or after Jan. 31, 2025
Lead Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Justice/DEA, GS 13, Arlington, VA, closes 2/3/25 (non-public).
Att’y-Advisor, Dep’t of Transportation/PHMSA. GS 14, Wash., DC, closes 2/10/25 (public).
Att’y Advisor, Dep’t of Justice/Pardon, GS 13-15, Wash., DC, open until filled (public).
Court opinion issued Jan. 16, 2025
Court Opinions (2025)CommentStevens v. HHS (N.D. Ill.) -- ruling that:(1) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement failed to show that it performed adequate search for various records concerning three individuals, reasoning that: (a) ICE neglected to explain the full scope of ICE program offices and why it limited its search to certain offices, (b) ICE did not sufficiently explain which of the potentially responsive records it found in each of the program offices for each of the individual requests were ultimately produced to plaintiff, and (c) ICE’s search terms were underinclusive for two of the requested individuals; and (2) agency failed to justify its withholdings, noting that its Vaughn Index was “at the very least incomplete” and its declaration contained “clearly erroneous statements showing a lack of attention to detail and accuracy”; further, remarking that ICE’s privacy-related redactions on a “publicly filed document readily available on a public docket” were “egregious,” “ludicrous” “preposterous,” and a “blatant misuse of exemptions” that “defies comprehension” and “screams of bad faith”; and (3) ICE must release all records to plaintiff in full, because: (a) in camera review would be too burdensome, (b) ICE already was already afforded an opportunity to file a supplemental Vaughn Index and “enough was enough” after years of delay.
Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2025 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2024 and from 2015 to 2023.
Court opinions issued Jan. 10, 2025
Court Opinions (2025)CommentCincinnati Enquirer v. DOJ (S.D. Ohio) -- ruling that FBI properly relied on Exemption 7(C) in refusing to confirm or deny the existence of text messages between seven private individuals and a former Cincinnati councilwoman who pled guilty to honest services wire fraud; rejecting plaintiff’s argument that Ohio’s state privacy law limited privacy interests recognized under FOIA; also rejecting plaintiff’s public interest arguments because, among other things, they wrongfully presupposed the existence of records.
Pub. Health & Med. Professionals for Transparency v. FDA (N.D. Tex.) -- denying government’s motion to indefinitely suspend court’s order requiring production of certain COVID vaccine-related records (purportedly one-million pages) by June 30, 2025; rejecting FDA’s argument that the court committed “clear error” in setting schedule, because: (a) the original production schedule was entered three years ago, (b) FDA knew about the existence of the records at issue well before disclosing their existence to plaintiff or the court; and (c) the records were “undoubtedly responsive” to plaintiff’s 2021 request and should have been processed along with other records that were last produced in November 2023; further, rejecting FDA’s argument that a lower production rate—such as the 500-page monthly rate used in multiple cases in the DDC— was justified by “exceptional circumstances,” noting that FDA’s understaffing excuse was based on an astonishing claim that newly trained FOIA personnel needed two years to be fully trained; lastly, rejecting FDA”s assertion that the production schedule would be unduly burdensome, reasoning that plaintiff’s request is “arguably the most important FOIA request in American history” and that FDA has previously “risen to the challenge” to meet the court’s production orders.
Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2025 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2024 and from 2015 to 2023.
FOIA News: Dep't of State's 2024 annual FOIA report
FOIA News (2025)CommentThe U.S. Department of State has posted its fiscal year 2024 annual FOIA report. Here are the key metrics:
Requests received jumped from 15,713 in FY 2023 to 22,306 an increase of nearly 42 percent. This is the second-highest number of requests received by State since FY 2008, exceeded only by its FY 2017 total of 27,852).
Requests processed climbed from 12,576 in FY 2023 to 20,775 in FY 2024, an increase of 65 percent
Backlogged requests decreased ever so slightly from 21,619 in FY 2023 to 21,615 in FY 2024.
Backlogged appeals dropped from 272 in FY 2023 to 126 in FY 2024, a 53.6 percent decrease
$0 collected for processing requests.
$33.2 million in processing costs; $2 million in litigation-related costs.
For all processed perfected requests, 563.92 average days by main DOS for “complex” requests.
Ten oldest perfected requests have been pending between 4183 and 4289 days.
FOIA News: 2025 FOIA conference for Sunshine Week
FOIA News (2025)CommentTo celebrate Sunshine Week this year, an in-person conference entitled ”Sunshine Fest” will be held in Washington, D.C. on March 19-20, 2025. See tentative details here.
FOIA News: Last call for Sunshine Week logo/slogan contest
FOIA News (2025)CommentJanuary 15, 2025 is the deadline to submit your idea for a Sunshine Week logo and slogan that promote freedom of information for Sunshine Week, a contest sponsored by MuckRock and the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project.
See more details here.
Jobs, jobs, jobs: Weekly report Jan. 13, 2025
Jobs jobs jobs (2025)CommentFederal positions closing in the next ten days
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Transportation/FMCSA, GS 9, Wash., DC, closes 1/13/25 (public).
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Air Force, GS 11-12, multiple locations, closes 1/13/25 (non-public).
Att’y-Advisor, Dep’t of Homeland Sec./USCG, GS 13-14, Wash., DC, closes 1/13/25 (public).
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Army, GG 12, Fort Meade, MD, closes 1/17/25 (public).
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Air Force, GS 9, Hulbert Field, FL, closes 1/17/25 (non-public).
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Army. GS 13, Ft. Belvoir, VA, closes 1/20/25 (non-public).
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of State, GS 9, Rosslyn, VA, closes 1/21/24 or first 50 applications (non-public).
Federal positions closing on or after Jan. 24, 2025
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Health & Human Serv./FDA, GS 13, Rockville, MD, closes 1/24/25 (non-public).
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Treasury/IRS, GS 14, nationwide locations, closes 1/24/25 (non-public).
Att’y-Advisor, Dep’t of Transportation/PHMSA. GS 14, Wash., DC, closes 2/10/25 (public).
Att’y Advisor, Dep’t of Justice/Pardon, GS 13-15, Wash., DC, open until filled (public).
Court opinions issued Jan. 8, 2025
Court Opinions (2025)CommentWade v. Dep’t of Def. (D.D.C.) — dismissing pro se lawsuit, ostensibly brought under FOIA, for failing to “indicat[e] in the complaint or otherwise that [the plaintiff] had submitted FOIA requests to the relevant agency seeking the documents at issue.”
Gelb v. Dep’t of Def. (D.D.C.) — among other things, granting the government’s motion for summary judgment and ruling that (1) the requester could not bring FOIA claims against the Secretary of Defense and DOD’s Chief FOIA Officer in their individual capacities, and, more notably, (2) that the Defense Finance and Accounting Service was not obliged to “create a computer program that obtains and synthesizes information from multiple databases to create a record that does not otherwise exist,” namely, a “report of all stale-dated checks and EFT payments worth $100,000 or more, issued between 2017 and 2020, that remain uncashed,” as that would entail record creation, “which the FOIA does not require.”
Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2025 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2024 and from 2015 to 2023.