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 October.
Court opinions
We posted and summarized 29 opinions in September. Highlights include N.Y. Times v. DOJ (S.D.N.Y., Sept. 4, 2025), in which the court held DOJ did not “improperly” withhold Volume II of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report concerning President Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents, because an injunction issued by a federal court in Florida prohibits the report’s release. The court rejected plaintiff’s collateral attack on the Florida court’s jurisdiction since its order had at least a colorable basis in protecting co-defendants’ fair trial rights and it was implicitly recognized by the Eleventh Circuit. Notably, on September 30, 2025, the advocacy group American Oversight petitioned the Eleventh Circuit to lift the injunction at issue.
Speaking of American Oversight, it scored a win against HHS in its lawsuit—on remand from the D.C. Circuit—seeking communications between the agency and congressional Republicans concerning healthcare reform legislation. See Am. Oversight, Inc. v. HHS (D.D.C. Sept. 24, 2025). Of note, the court concluded that the disputed communications were agency records, not congressional records, after finding that a generic “Legend” on the records was insufficient to show Congress had clearly manifested intent to control them.
Top news
On the last day of fiscal year 2025, OIP posted agency reporting deadlines for FY 2026, issued guidance on fiscal year 2026 Chief FOIA Officer reports, and posted a summary and assessment of FY2025 CFO reports. At the stroke of midnight, the government began a partial shutdown from lapses in appropriations.
USAID issued a global “still interested” notice on September 16, 2025, requiring requesters to confirm their interest in all FOIA requests submitted to the agency before January 20, 2025.
The FOIA Advisory Committee met on Sep. 11th.
The Department of Energy was sued on September 3, 2025, over its August 14th still-interested notice.
October calendar
Oct. 7: DOJ/OIP Virtual Annual FOIA Report Refresher and Quarterly Report Training
Oct. 14-16: Graduate USA Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Courses
Oct. 15: DOJ/OIP Virtual Chief FOIA Officer Report Refresher Training
Oct. 16: D.C. Circuit oral argument, Accuracy in Media v. DOD, No. 24-5165.
Oct. 29-31: Management Concepts The Privacy Act and The Freedom of Information Act Training
Oct. 31: FY25 Q4 Data Due