Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Veterans Affairs/VHA, GS 12, New Orleans, LA, closes 5/1/26 (non-public).
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Veterans Affairs/VHA, GS 12, Fairfield, CA, closes 5/5/26 (internal to agency).
FOIA Attorney-Adviser, Sec. & Exch. Comm’n, SK 14, Wash., DC, closes 5/8/26 (public).
Lead Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of State, GS 14, Wash., DC, closes 5/8/26 (non-public).
Block Club Chi. v. DHS (D.D.C.) -- ruling that that ICE properly relied on Exemption 7(C) to redact detainee names, case numbers, home addresses, and birth dates from spreadsheet records showing arrests and detentions involving ICE personnel in the Chicago region from January 21 to January 30, 2025; rejecting plaintiff’s argument that a public interest in verifying the agency’s claims regarding the "targeted" nature of the operations or the criminal status of detainees outweighed the substantial privacy interests.
Hester v. IRS (D. N.J.) (unpublished) -- denying in large part plaintiff’s motion for reconsideration of the Court’s prior order denying a TRO and preliminary injunction, finding plaintiff failed to show the IRS was destroying or likely to destroy FOIA-requested records and failed to justify expedited processing of FOIA requests tied to Tax Court disputes.
Summaries of published opinions issued in 2026 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2025, 2024, and from 2015 to 2023.
By Shifra Dayak, NOTUS, Apr. 27, 2026
These days, the life cycle of a Freedom of Information Act request goes something like this: submit the request, wait and watch the 20-business-day deadline for an agency to respond pass. Wait some more, and more, and then some more.
Sometimes, a FOIA officer sends a clarifying question. Either nothing more comes of it, or the released records are rife with redactions. Attempts to appeal result in more delays, leaving one more option: to sue.
Legally public information from the government is becoming harder to access. The Department of Energy reported 2,277 backlogged FOIA requests — or requests that are still open past the legally required response time — at the end of fiscal year 2025; by comparison, the agency reported 1,629 backlogged requests at the end of fiscal year 2024.
The Department of Defense reported a 20% increase in pending requests and a 42% increase in backlogged requests between the end of fiscal years 2024 and 2025. The State Department’s backlog, meanwhile, grew from more than 21,000 requests at the end of fiscal year 2024 to more than 27,000 requests at the end of fiscal year 2025.
A dozen experts, ranging from former federal employees who worked in FOIA offices to lawyers that litigate FOIA cases, told NOTUS that the Trump administration is categorically worse at complying with the transparency law.
Read more here.
Last week we reported that federal contractor OPEXUS was facing a class action lawsuit in connection with a 2025 data breach by two former employees. We recently learned that the United States Senate is investigating the breach, specifically through a request for information from Senate HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy seeking details on the company’s cybersecurity practices and safeguards. See more here.
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Veterans Affairs/VHA, GS 11-12, Marion, IL, closes 4/27/26 (non-public).
Gov’t Info. Specialist, Nat’l Sci. Found., GS 14, Alexandria, VA, closes 4/28/26 (non-public).
Innovation Law Lab v. ICE (D. Or.) -- denying agency’s motion to stay case during funding lapse where plaintiff sought records on ICE’s detention placement and transfer policies; rejecting agency’s argument that furlough-related constraints and the Anti-Deficiency Act prevented agency from litigating the case, and finding that ICE failed to justify an indefinite delay in light of FOIA’s strong interest in prompt disclosure and the ongoing impact on detainees.
Summaries of published opinions issued in 2026 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2025, 2024, and from 2015 to 2023.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services posted its FY 2025 annual report yesterday, more than seven weeks after March 1st deadline. Here are the highlights (and lowlights):
Requests received: 55.006, up from 49,053 in FY 2024.
Requests processed: 47,489, up from 46,923 in FY 2024.
Backlogged requests increased from 11,149 to 18,360.
49.72 average days to process “simple perfected requests; 198.91 average days for “complex” requests; and 315.73 average days for expedited requests.
Requests for fee waivers: 2441 granted and 312 denied.
Requests for expedited processing: 125 granted and 1415 denied.
Total processing costs: $56.2 million, down from $80.2 million in FY 2024.
Fees collected from requesters: $656,731, down from $752,786 in FY 2024.
For more comparisons, see HHS’s FY 2024 report here.
Leopold v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- granting in part and denying in part plaintiffs’ motion for attorney’s fees and costs in case concerning post–2020 election records requests; ruling that although plaintiffs “substantially prevailed” and were entitled to fees, their fee request was excessive and required substantial reduction; concluding that DOJ’s early cooperation and production of records without significant court intervention warranted a reduction in pre-summary judgment fees by 50%; further holding that plaintiffs’ limited success on the merits justified reducing summary judgment fees to approximately 20% of the requested amount, particularly where billing entries did not consistently tie work to successful claims; finding additional reductions appropriate where entries were vague, block-billed, or failed to segregate time spent on successful versus unsuccessful issues; further holding that plaintiffs’ request for fees-on-fees was itself excessive and capping recovery at roughly 30% of the merits-stage award to avoid a “windfall”; awarding costs in full where adequately documented and reasonably incurred; emphasizing that FOIA fee awards are governed by “rough justice, not auditing perfection,” and must reflect degree of success rather than total hours expended.
Summaries of published opinions issued in 2026 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2025, 2024, and from 2015 to 2023.
Register Now for the NexGen 3.0 FOIA Tech Showcase for Federal Agencies
DOJ/OIP, FOIA Post, April 21, 2026
The Office of Information Policy (OIP) is pleased to announce that the Technology Committee of the Chief FOIA Officers (CFO) Council, in conjunction with OIP and the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), will host a four-day event for federal agencies called the NexGen 3.0 FOIA Tech Showcase on May 11-14, 2026.
The Showcase is intended to identify FOIA technology solutions for federal agencies in response to existing FOIA case processing and backlog challenges, as well as raise awareness of existing technological capabilities utilizing artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies. A variety of vendors will provide video demonstrations of their technology products for use in agency FOIA administration. Agency Q&A with the vendor will follow each demonstration.
This event is open to federal agency employees with a .gov or .mil email address only. Registration is required by May 7, 2026. You can register here. Additional details about the Chief FOIA Officers Council and the meeting, including the agenda, will be available on the Chief FOIA Officers Council Technology Committee website on FOIA.gov.
Read original post here.
The Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy has posted the department’s long overdue annual FOIA report for fiscal year 2025. Below are the key metrics:
159,743 requests received, up from 132,527 in FY 2024—a 20.5% increase.
147,588 requests processed, down from 157,180 in FY 2024—a 6.5% decrease.
29,308 backlogged requests, up from 21,567 at the close of FY 2024—a 35% increase.
2484 appeals received and 2586 processed; appeals backlog reduced from 211 to 190.
18.13 average days to process all “simple” perfected requests; 246.44 average days for “complex” requests; and 49.92 average days for expedited requests.
Fee waiver requests: 2539 granted and 1902 denied.
Requests for expedition: 1604 granted and 5082 denied.
Toal program costs: $118,068.573, up from $112,233,711 in FY 2024.
Fees collected from requesters: $120,125, up from $36,016 in FY 2024.
For more comparisons, see DOJ’s FY 2024 report here.