FOIA News: Tech committee needs new members

The Chief FOIA Officers Council has vacancies to fill on its Technology Committee. Government FOIA professionals who are interested in serving should email OGIS Director Alina Semo. See details here.

FOIA News: State Dep't FOIA work at standstill

State Department FOIA work crippled by virus precautions

By Josh Gerstein, Politico, Mar. 27, 2020

The State Department’s processing of records for public release under the federal government’s best-known transparency law—the Freedom of Information Act—has ground to a virtual halt due to work changes aimed at quelling the coronavirus pandemic, according to an agency official.

State Department official Eric Stein said in a formal court declaration this week that the unusual system the agency relies upon for line-by-line review of requested documents has been hit hard by the shift to telework as a means of reducing the number of people in federal offices

Read more here.

FOIA News: ASAP cancels National Training Conference

Today the American Society for Access Professionals announced that it had cancelled its National Training Conference scheduled for May 18-20, 2020. See more here.

FOIA News: ProPublica seeks tips for COVID-19 FOIA requests

ProPublica is soliciting tips from government officials and those on the front lines of the Coronavirus pandemic in order to target agencies with public records requests. See details here.

FOIA News: Reminder of D.C. Circuit hearing

The D.C. Circuit’s oral argument in Judicial Watch v. DOJ will be heard on Monday morning. Live audio can be heard here.

FOIA News: D.C. Circuit to hear FOIA case on Monday

On March 23rd, the D.C. Circuit will hear oral argument in Judicial Watch v. DOJ, which concerns the government’s reliance on the attorney work-product privilege to withhold FBI interviews with Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel, and Valerie Jarrett about former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The district court’s opinion dated June 25, 2019 is here. President Trump commuted Blagojevich’s prison sentence on February 18, 2020.

FOIA News: Notice of FOIA delays at NARA

The following notice appears on NARA’s website:

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of our staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgment as well as a substantive response to your reference or FOIA request or appeal. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Union of Concerned Scientists thanks FOIA officers

A Thank You to FOIA Officers: Purveyors of Sunshine

By Genna Reed, Union of Concerned Scientists, Mar. 20, 2020

This sunshine week I would like to express my appreciation for all of the work that Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) officers at federal agencies have done and continue to do to ensure public access to government communications, records, and documents. With FOIA, Congress codified into law that people in our nation have the right to know how public officials allocate resources, weigh competing interests, and handle decisions on everything from chemical safety to COVID-19 emergency planning—because for taxpaying citizens, government business is their business, too. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) system is one of the greatest tools we have in creating a more transparent government and holding our government officials accountable.

Read more here.

FOIA News: State Dep't reportedly suspends its FOIA operations

According to a tweet from Buzzfeed reporter Jason Leopold, the State Department has suspended its FOIA operations due to COVID, resulting in requests by DOJ to delay litigation proceedings. The State Department’s FOIA web page, however, does not indicate that its FOIA operations are closed -- at least not as of the time of this post (1:55pm) -- and it appears as if requests can still be submitted electronically.

FOIA News: OGIS recaps Sunshine Week

Sunshine Week in the Age of Social Distancing

Office of Gov’t Info. Serv., Mar. 20, 2020 

As the sun sets on Sunshine Week, we hope you will continue to celebrate access to information with some interesting reading. 

First, a reminder that OGIS published its 2020 Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2019 highlighting the work we do as FOIA Ombudsman to make the process work better for all through dispute resolution and agency compliance review.  The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Information Policy (OIP), also published a report listing all FOIA litigation cases filed and decided in 2019 and detailing OIP’s work to encourage FOIA compliance. Earlier this month, OIP announced that all 118 agencies subject to the FOIA have finalized their Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Annual FOIA Reports. OIP has uploaded all of the data from these reports on FOIA.gov.

Read more here.