Court opinions issued Mar. 10, 2025

Brennan Ctr. for Justice v. U.S. Dep’t of State (S.D.N.Y.) -- deciding that: (1) department performed a reasonable search for certain documents referenced in President Trump’s 2017 travel ban; and (2) following in camera review of four documents, all but three pages of one document were fully protected by the presidential communications privilege and Exemption 1.

Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Wash. v. U.S. DOGE Serv. (D.D.C.) -- in most notable part, granting plaintiff’s request for expedited processing of various records from the U.S. DOGE Service (USDS) because the “preliminary record” indicated that USDS “likely” wields substantial independent authority from the White House and therefore is any agency subject to FOIA.

Kendrick v. DEA (D.D.C.) -- on renewed summary judgment, determining that DEA performed adequate supplemental searches for records concerning pro se plaintiff’s criminal case.

Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2025 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2024 and from 2015 to 2023.

FOIA News: Court rules DOGE must process FOIA request

DOGE likely subject to open records law, judge rules

By Zach Schonfeld, The Hill, Mar. 10, 2025

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is likely covered under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a federal judge ruled late Monday, rejecting the Trump administration’s position that the group does not have to respond to public records requests. 

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper found DOGE exercises substantial authority independently of the president, which makes it subject to FOIA. 

His finding was rooted in media reports detailing the group’s rapid efforts to dismantle parts of the federal bureaucracy, as well as some of President Trump’s and Elon Musk’s statements. 

“Canceling any government contract would seem to require substantial authority—and canceling them on this scale certainly does,” wrote Cooper, an appointee of former President Obama. 

Read more here.

Court opinions issued Mar. 6, 2025

Whitlock v. Dep’t of Def. (D.D.C.) — in case concerning federal corruption and bribery investigation involving the U.S. 7th Fleet, holding that: (1) government was entitled to summary judgment on issues uncontested by plaintiff, specifically that Navy conducted adequate searches and properly withheld records pursuant to Exemptions 5, 6, and 7(C); (2) government was required to release all records withheld pursuant to Exemption 7(A) because the criminal cases it identified as relevant were closed, and it failed to explain how disclosure of each category of withheld records would interfere with any Naval enforcement proceedings; and (3) government was required to release all records withheld pursuant to Exemption 7(B) because it failed to show that disclosure of each category of withheld records “would, more probably than not, seriously interfere with the fairness” of Naval enforcement proceedings.”

Gov’t Accountability Project v. Dep’t of the Treasury (D.D.C.) — finding that agency failed to show that Exemption 4 protected a company’s application and license to sell oil in Syria, because company’s unsworn statements made during the submitter notice process constituted inadmissible hearsay and, in any event, were too “vague and conclusory” to establish that the company customarily and actually treated the documents as private; further finding that some evidence supported Treasury’s position, including confidential markings on the disputed documents, and therefore denying both parties’ summary judgment motions.

Gatore v. Dep’t of Homeland Sec. (D.D.C.) — in dispute concerning a request for attorney’s fees, ruling that: (1) only one of dozens of plaintiffs established an attorney-client relationship with moving counsel; (2) plaintiff was eligible for attorney’s fees as a prevailing party because agency had been ordered to release certain documents, rejecting agency’s argument that plaintiff needed to prove she received documents from her counsel; and (3) whether plaintiff was entitled to fees under four-factor test was unnecessary to decide owing to her counsel’s “total lack of billing judgment in this case . . . despite repeated warnings from this Court and other members in this District regarding the serious deficiencies of his billing practices.”

Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2025 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2024 and from 2015 to 2023.

Jobs, jobs, jobs: Weekly report Mar. 10, 2025

The 90-day hiring freeze imposed by the White House on January 20, 2025, has significantly reduced the number of fillable government FOIA positions. Below are vacancies that appear to be exempt from the freeze.

Records & Info. Mgmt. Specialist, Dep't of Justice, OSG, GS 13, Wash., DC, closes 3/10/25 (non-public).

Att’y-Advisor, Dep’t of Homeland Sec./OGC, GS 14-15, Wash., DC, closes 3/12/25 (public).

Att’y-Advisor, Dep’t of Homeland Sec./OGC, GS 13-15, Wash., DC, closes 3/12/25 (public).

FOIA News: DOJ (finally) releases FY 2024 report

The Department of Justice has released its annual FOIA report for fiscal year 2024, apparently at some point on March 7, 2024, six days after the posting deadline. The Office of Information Policy, whose director was removed on the same day, did not issue an accompanying blog post about its report. Here are the key metrics:

• 132,527 requests received, up from 110,934 in FY 2023

• 157,180 requests processed, up from 144,064 in FY 2023

• 21,567 backlogged requests, down from 43,927 at the end of FY 2023.

• 2,577 appeals received, up from 2.044 in FY 2023.

• 2,479 appeals processed, up from 2,126 in FY 2023.

• 211 backlogged appeals, down from 240 at the end of FY 2023

• Agency-wide average response time of 72.24 days for simple requests and 336.72 days for complex requests. Components with the slowest average response times for complex requests were NSD (849.27 days), ATF (685.52 days), and OIP (650.57 days).

• $112.2 million in total costs, $94.66 million of which comprised administrative costs and $17.57 million comprised litigation related costs.

• $36k fees collected from requesters for processing requests.

FOIA News: DOJ/OIP director ousted, reports Reuters

The director of the Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy, Bobak Talebian, has been fired, according to a Friday night report from Reuters. No other details were provided. Mr. Bobak’s profile remains on OIP’s webpage as of the time of this post. Mr. Talebian was appointed to serve as Director in February 2020 after serving nearly ten years in other roles at OIP.

FOIA News: This and that

• The federal FOIA Advisory Committee for the 2024-2026 term met on March 6, 2025. See video here.

• The FOIA page of the Office of Management and Budget is back online.

• The FBI recently posted records on the 2004 murder of Nicholas Berg in Iraq.

• DHS, DOJ, NARA and several other agencies have still not filed their FY 2024 annual reports, reportedly due to software glitches. To date, no agency has issued a public explanation.

• Meanwhile, agencies are already beginning to post their 2025 Chief FOIA Officer Reports, which are due by March 17, 2025.

FOIA News: Update on missing annual reports

Technical difficulties with commercial off-the-shelf software have delayed the filing of annual FOIA reports from multiple agencies, according to a government source familiar with the situation.

FOIA News: The annual report deadline that wasn't

On October 2, 2024, the Department of Justice announced that agencies would be required to publish their fiscal year 2024 annual FOIA reports on their websites no later than March 1, 2025. As I write this post at 4:15pm on March 4, 2025, however, DOJ and several other agencies that receive voluminous FOIA requests, including DHS, NARA, and Veterans Affairs, have not posted their reports. Nor has the government’s central FOIA website, FOIA.gov, been updated to include annual FY 2024 data. Is this a glitch in the Matrix or something else? Stay tuned.

Monthly Roundup: Feb. 2025

Below is a summary of the notable FOIA court decisions and news from last month, as well as a look ahead to FOIA events in March.

Court decisions

We identified and posted 24 decisions in the month of February. Of note, the D.C. Circuit concluded in McWatters v. ATF that the government properly relied on Exemption 7(C) to withhold portions of an audio recording capturing the sounds of a nightclub fire in which 100 people died. In reaching its decision, the court credited ATF’s explanation that disclosure of the recording could harm the privacy interests of the living members of the deceased and rejected plaintiff’s main argument that no sounds could be traced to any identifiable person. And in Energy & Policy Inst. v. Tenn. Valley Auth. (E.D. Tenn.), the district court found that plaintiff was ineligible for attorney’s fees and costs even though the agency withdrew its Exemption 4 withholdings after litigation started. In so ruling, the court accepted the government’s argument that a business submitter, not the agency, changed its position on the confidential nature of the withheld records.

Top news

• FOIA personnel did not escape the layoffs initiated in February by the Department of Government Efficiency.

• Speaking of DOGE, the DOJ noted in litigation that DOGE’s records are not subject to FOIA.

• Earlier in the month, a Senate Democrat introduced a bill that would extend FOIA to DOGE.

• Many agencies posted their FY 2024 annual reports in February, with notable exceptions including DHS, DOJ, NARA, Veteran Affairs, Energy, and Treasury.

March calendar

Mar. 1: Deadline for agencies to post FY 2024 annual reports

Mar. 6: FOIA Advisory Committee meeting.

Mar. 16: Sunshine Week begins

Mar. 17: DOJ Sunshine Week event; agencies must post Chief FOIA Officer Reports on their websites.

Mar. 19: NARA Sunshine Week event.

Mar. 20: Sunshine Fest conference, Washington DC.

Mar. 22: Sunshine Fest 2025, Chicago, IL. Last day of Sunshine Week.