Court opinion issued Jan. 15, 2026

Leopold v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- on remand from the D.C. Circuit, holding that DOJ properly relied on Exemption 8 to withhold a Monitor Report assessing HSBC’s anti–money laundering and sanctions compliance and met the foreseeable harm requirement because disclosure of any portion of the report would threaten the effectiveness of bank supervision; reasoning that although redactions could mitigate harms such as criminal exploitation, competitive injury, and chilled employee candor, those risks alone did not justify withholding the entire document; further explaining that DOJ showed—through sworn declarations from foreign regulators—that release of even a redacted report would undermine settled expectations of confidentiality and foreseeably chill future cooperation with U.S. monitors and regulators.

Summaries of published opinions issued in 2026 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2025, 2024, and from 2015 to 2023.

Court opinions issued Jan. 14, 2026

Levin v. IRS (N.D. Ala.) -- finding that the IRS properly relied on Exemption 7(A) and 7(E) to withhold guidance and templates used by IRS examiners in Employee Retention Credit (ERC) examinations, even though the materials were not tied to a specific taxpayer or investigation.

Summaries of published opinions issued in 2026 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2025, 2024, and from 2015 to 2023.

Court opinions issued Jan. 12, 2026

Landis v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons (D.D.C.) -- holding that Office of Personnel Management properly relied on Exemption 6 to withhold the names and duty stations of Bureau of Prisons employees nationwide for 2017 and 2018, reasoning that BOP employees have significant privacy and safety interests and that disclosure would not meaningfully shed light on BOP operations.

S. Envtl. Law Ctr. v. TVA (E.D. Tenn.) -- determining that: (1) Tennessee Valley Authority performed a reasonable search for agency’s communications with an energy company concerning a proposed gas pipeline, rejecting plaintiff’s challenges to o the search scope, methods, and alleged missing records; (2) TVA did not adequately justify its withholdings of confidential commercial information under Exemption 4 because its categorical explanations were overly broad and did not clearly link specific documents to specific exemption rationales; and (3) TVA was entitled to summary judgment with respect to its redaction of personal contact information under Exemption 6, which plaintiff did not oppose.

Mannon v. U.S. Dep't of Veteran Affairs (E.D. Mich.) -- ruling that plaintiff failed to state a valid FOIA claim because his complaint did not clearly identify what his FOIA request was seeking, referenced conflicting request numbers, and did not specify which records were allegedly improperly withheld; further ruling that amendment would be futile because plaintiff’s proposed new claim was based on alleged destruction of evidence, which does not provide a standalone legal claim.

Summaries of published opinions issued in 2026 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2025, 2024, and from 2015 to 2023.

FOIA News: Stars and Stripes still there; DOD regulation no longer gallantly streaming

The Department of Defense is removing a 1994 regulation governing its Stars and Stripes newspaper operations after determining that the rule addresses only internal policies and procedures and is unnecessary for public regulation; those matters will instead continue to be governed by DoD Directive 5122.11, according to a Federal Register notice published on January 15, 2026 (and effective immediately). Although DoD proposed updating the rule in April 2024 and received 91 public comments—most, but not all, supportive of Stars and Stripes and largely focused on issues such as FOIA access, facility access, and the republication of materials—the Department decided that those concerns were more appropriately handled through internal directives rather than notice-and-comment rulemaking.

FOIA News: Hedge funds, FOIA, and the FDA

How Hedge Funds Use FOIA to Stay Ahead of the Market

FOIAengine: Warning Letters and Inspection Reports in the Spotlight

By John A. Jenkins, Law St. Media, Jan. 14, 2026

Freedom of Information Act requests filed with the Food and Drug Administration by hedge funds last month revealed big financial players closely eyeing warning letters, enforcement documents, and inspection reports for major drug manufacturers and biopharma companies.

At the forefront was a sweeping request from Greenwich, Conn.-based Deep Track Capital for all Form 483 inspection reports issued by the FDA over nearly three years to two companies – CG Oncology (NASDAQ: CGON), which develops immunotherapies for bladder cancer; and Biovire, a contract manufacturer specializing in the final step of packaging “novel drugs and medical devices” for patient use.

Deep Track, focused exclusively on the life sciences industry, has $5.2 billion in assets under management and invests in public and pre-IPO biotechnology companies.  Form 483 reports, which the hedge fund is seeking, describe plant-inspection observations made by the FDA. 

Read more here.

FOIA News: Litigation over EEO-1 reports continues

Ninth Circuit Decision on EEO-1 Reports Is In, But the Case Is Not Over

By Laura A. Mitchell, JacksonLewis, Jan. 13, 2026

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit case involving EEO-1 reports and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has taken another procedural turn. The court’s July 2025 decision in Center for Investigative Reporting v. U.S. Dep’t of Labor upheld the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California’s finding that workforce composition data in federal contractors’ EEO-1 reports was not protected commercial information under FOIA’s Exemption 4 and as a result, OFCCP improperly withheld release of the reports. After a lengthy delay, the federal government declined to file for reconsideration and the Ninth Circuit’s decision became final December 29, 2025.

Read more here.

Court opinions issued Jan. 9, 2026

Am. First Legal Found. v. U.S. Gov’t Accountability Office (D.D.C.) — granting the government’s motion to dismiss, and concluding that the U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) is not subject to FOIA” because it is a legislative-branch agency; explaining that the APA’s exclusion of “the Congress,” which is incorporated into the FOIA’s definition of “agency” at sec. 552(f), is best read as the “entire legislative branch,” including its agencies; rejecting the requester’s arguments that GAO is, in fact, an “establishment in the executive branch” or an “independent regulatory agency.”

Williams & Connolly LLP v. Dep’t of Homeland Sec. (D.D.C.) — issuing an amended version of the Court’s Oct. 31, 2025 opinion, which concluded that ICE conducted an adequate search for records related to individuals involved in a sanctions evasion case in the Southern District of New York, and that CBP and USCIS properly withheld records pursuant to FOIA Exemptions 6 and 7(C) and met the statute’s foreseeable harm and segregability requirements; explaining in an accompanying order that the amendment was necessary to clarify how resolution of the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment was not “final” and “appealable” because plaintiffs claims against the Department of the Treasury and Department of State “have not yet been adjudicated.”

Kitlinski v. Dep’t of Justice (D.D.C.) — holding that DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility failed to conduct an adequate search because it did not attempt to identify “journaled emails,” or other archived messages that might have been deleted by the relevant custodian, through its Microsoft M365 document system.

Summaries of published opinions issued in 2026 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2025, 2024, and from 2015 to 2023.

FOIA News: Dick Huff, founding OIP director, leads National FOIA Hall of Fame class of 2026

Sixteen inducted into 2026 National FOIA Hall of Fame

Brechner News, Jan, 13, 2026

Sixteen champions of government transparency will be inducted this March into the National FOIA Hall of Fame for their outstanding contributions to advancing the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

Honorees include Richard L. Huff, founding director of what is now called the Office of Information Policy, Michael Morisy, co-founder of MuckRock, Kirsten Mitchell and Alina Semo of the Office of Government Information Services, and David McCraw, general counsel for The New York Times.

“These champions of transparency have dedicated themselves to improving U.S. FOIA, which is more important than ever,” said David Cuillier, director of the University of Florida Brechner Freedom of Information Project. “They are an inspiration to us all in advocating for more accountable government.”

Read more here.

FOIA News: Register for second annual Sunshine Fest

In recognition of Sunshine Week, the University of Florida Brechner Freedom of Information Project, MuckRock, and the National Freedom of Information Coalition are organizing the second-annual in-person conference to find solutions to pressing problems in freedom of information across all disciplinary and geographic boundaries – local, state, federal and global!

When: March 15-March 17, 2026

Where: Washington, D.C.

See here for schedule, speakers, registration, and travel information.

Jobs, jobs, jobs: The Fab Four

Gov’t Info Specialist, Dep’t of the Air Force, GS 13, Arlington, VA, closes 1/13/26 (non-public)

Gov’t Info Specialist, Dep’t of Housing & Urban Dev., GS 13, Wash., DC, closes 1/16/26 (internal to agency)

Gov’t Info Specialist, Dep’t of Def./DCSA, GG 12, Ft. Meade, MD, closes 1/19/26 (or first 100 applications) (non-public)

Gov’t Info Specialist, Dep’t of Def./DCSA, GG 9, Boyers, PA, closes 1/19/26 (or first 100 applications) (non-public)