FOIA News: America First Legal Foundation files notice of appeal to D.C. Circuit in GAO FOIA fight

This past Friday, February 6th, America First Legal Foundation (“AFLF”) filed a Notice of Appeal to the D.C. Circuit in America First Legal Foundation v. U.S. Government Accountability Office, a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) case that challenges GAO’s status as an “agency.” As we noted last month, Judge Sparkle Sooknanan—unsurprisingly—dismissed AFLF’s case, holding that GAO was a legislative-branch agency and, thus, excluded from the FOIA’s definition of “agency” because it is part of “Congress.”

AFLF has not yet noticed an appeal in what might be described as a companion case, America First Legal Foundation v. Roberts, which challenges whether the Judicial Conference and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts are “agencies” for purposes of the FOIA. Judge Trevor McFadden granted the government’s motion to dismiss in that case on December 18, 2025.

FOIA News: The survey says . . .

The FOIA Advisory Committee’s “Volume and Frequency” subcommittee is running an anonymous survey of federal employees to understand how they handle burdensome or AI-generated FOIA requests. The questions ask about workload, vexatious or resource-heavy requests, strategies to prevent delays, proactive disclosures, and experiences with AI-generated requests—including how to identify and manage them. The survey is open until March 20, 2026.

[AB comment: The Committee already has the expertise to understand these challenges firsthand. Yet every term, it seems to default to launching new surveys rather than relying on the judgment of its own members.]

FOIA News: More annual reports

On January 26, 2026, we reported that we had found online 14 annual agency FOIA reports for fiscal year 2025. Here are ten more reports that we’ve found since then.

• Admin. Conference of the United States

• Commodity Futures Trading Comm’n

• Fed. Labor Relations Auth.

• Fed. Mediation & Conciliation Serv.

• Merit Systems Prot. Bd.

• NASA

• Nat’l Council on Disability

• Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.

• Udall Found.

• U.S. Trade & Dev. Agency

FOIA News: 2nd Circuit hears Epstein FOIA case

Second Circuit signals remand of Epstein FOIA case in light of new transparency act

Radar Online says the Justice Department has “stonewalled” any production of documents related to the federal investigation into convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein in the mid-2000s that resulted in his controversial non-prosecution deal.

By Josh Russell, Courthouse News, Jan. 28, 2026

A New York City federal appeals court on Wednesday signaled it was likely to remand a FOIA case seeking documents from the FBI’s 2000s investigation into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein back to a lower court to consider how the bureau’s public disclosure obligations are now shaped by the Epstein Files Transparency Act and pending appeals from Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.

Tabloid website Radar Online sued the FBI in Manhattan federal court in 2017 — one year before the Miami Herald ran a bombshell exposé on the disgraced billionaire Epstein’s sex crimes — seeking production of documents from the federal investigation into Epstein’s underage sex trafficking operation, but the lower court sided with the Department of Justice in 2024, ruling on a second summary judgment that the FBI was right to decline the FOIA request for privacy concerns and issues related to the Maxwell case.

During oral arguments on Wednesday, Radar asked the appeals court to vacate the lower court’s “categorical, blanket” exemption from the disclosure obligations under the Freedom of Information Act and to remand the case back to the District Court judge to reconsider the FBI’s FOIA obligations and how that may align with the documents that are expected to be released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Read more here.

FOIA News: D.C. Circuit to Hold Oral Argument in FOIA Clawback

On Thursday, January 29, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear oral argument in Gun Owners of America, Inc. v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, No. 25-5309. A livestream is available here.

This case concerns the proper interpretation of the D.C. Circuit’s decision last year in Human Rights Defense Center v. U.S. Park Police (D.C. Cir. 2025), and the ability of courts to order “clawback” of inadvertently disclosed agency records as an exercise of equitable remedial authority.

The lower court’s decision can be found here.

[FOIA Advisor’s Ryan Mulvey filed an amicus brief in support of the Appellants and reversal. Read it here.]

FOIA News: EPA proposes to stop expediting requests concerning environmental justice

EPA will rescind its environmental justice–based expedited FOIA processing provision, as set forth in a proposed rule published today in the Federal Register. The proposal notes that expedited processing based on “compelling need” would remain available and that environmental justice–related requests would continue to be eligible for fee waivers.

Public comments will be accepted until February 26, 2026.

FOIA News: 2025 annual FOIA reports

Agencies are required to post their Fiscal Year 2025 Annual FOIA Report on their websites no later than March 1, 2026. Here are a few agencies that have gotten off to an early start. As in previous years, we will provide additional updates and summarize the reports issued by the more active FOIA agencies.

• Postal Regulatory Comm’n

• U.S. Comm’n on Civil Rights

• Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (received 140 requests; processed 13 requests)

• Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigations Bd.

• Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency

• Fed. Energy Regulatory Comm’n

• Inter-American Found.

• Nat’l Indian Gaming Comm’n

• Nat’l Mediation Bd.

• Office of Gov’t Ethics

• Privacy & Civil Liberties Bd.

• Selective Service Sys.

• U.S. Int’l Trade Comm’n

• U.S. Postal Serv.

FOIA News: Tax Notes launches FOIA newsletter

A new Freedom of Information Act newsletter, FOIA Findings, was launched in January to focus on how FOIA and open records laws can be used to illuminate tax policy and tax administration.

The newsletter is led by journalist Lauren Locricchio, who will oversee reporting and analysis rooted in documents obtained through FOIA and related disclosure laws. Each edition is designed to surface what agency records actually show—cutting through press releases and policy statements to highlight the evidence behind the decisions.

FOIA Findings is published by Tax Notes, a leading source of tax news and analysis founded in 1970. For more than five decades, Tax Notes has provided in-depth reporting and analysis for tax professionals, policymakers, academics, and journalists

Readers can subscribe to FOIA Findings on LinkedIn or through the Tax Notes website. You can find the newsletter here.

FOIA News: Sunshine Week awards for feds

OIP Now Accepting Nominations for the 2026 Sunshine Week FOIA Awards

By DOJ/OIP, FOIA Post, Jan. 23, 2026

The Department of Justice, Office of Information Policy (OIP) is pleased to announce that nominations are open for the 2026 Sunshine Week FOIA Awards, recognizing the contributions of FOIA professionals from around the government. 

Agency FOIA professionals are at the center of ensuring successful FOIA administration and we look forward to celebrating the work of these individuals from around the government.  For this year’s event, OIP is seeking nominations for three categories of awards:

• Exceptional Service by a FOIA Professional or Team of FOIA Professionals

• Exceptional Advancements in IT to Improve the Agency’s FOIA Administration

• Lifetime Service Award

Nominations can be submitted by agencies or by a member of the public.  All nominations are due to OIP by Friday, February 13, 2026.

Read more here.

FOIA News: FDA FOIA: Two Law Firm Playbooks

How Lawyers Use FOIA for Radically Different Agendas

FOIAengine: A Tale of Two Law Firms

By Randy E. Miller, Law St. Media, Jan. 22, 2026

When most people think about the Freedom of Information Act, they imagine journalists prying loose hidden facts or activists holding officials accountable. But FOIA is also a workhorse tool for lawyers. As two law firms’ 2025 FOIA filings with the Food and Drug Administration show, the same statute can serve very different legal purposes.

In 2025, Siri & Glimstad and Hyman, Phelps & McNamara were the leading law firm submitters of FOIA requests to the FDA, according to PoliScio Analytics’ competitive-intelligence database FOIAengine, which tracks FOIA requests in as close to real-time as their availability allows. The two firms accounted for 13 percent of the 1,098 requests to the FDA made by 368 law firms last year.

Read more here.