The FOIA blog

Exemption 3 Transparency Legislation Introduced

Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and John Cornyn (R-Tx) have introduced legislation aimed at making legislation more transparent when new Exemption 3 statutes are created.  This proposal was in last year's FOIA amendments passed by the Senate but was stripped out in the House version of the bill.  Sen. Leahy's press release can be found here.

Of course, and I know I sound like a broken record, but there is no mention of adequately funding FOIA Offices anywhere in Sen. Leahy's press release.

Congressional Oversight of the FOIA

In my latest LLRX.COM article, I take Congress to task for its failure to really oversee agency FOIA operations.  It seems to me that along with passing FOIA legislation, Congress must hold agencies truly accountable for their FOIA operations--by holding real hearings of agency personnel responsible for funding and personnel decisions relating to FOIA.

Maybe I've seen too many Frank Capra movies, but if Congress can delve into whether millionaire atheletes took performance enhancing drugs, I think it can found the time to see why agencies don't have enough personnel processing the FOIA requests made to them.  It seems to me that efficient FOIA Operations are as important as who was attending Jose Canseco's party.

Melanie Pustay to Speak at ASAP Luncheon Seminar

Melanie Pustay, Direct of Policy and Litigation for the Office of Information and Privacy will speak at a American Society of Access Professional's Food for Thought Luncheon on Thursday, Feb. 21.  The topic for the seminar is the new FOIA law.  It should be interesting and hopefully the audience will pepper Melanie with questions about the administrations latest attempt to quash portions of the law before it even takes effect.

More on this event can be found here.

Newspapers Voice Disdain for Bush Ombudsman Budget Maneuver

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has urged Congress to keep the FOIA Ombudsman's Office in the National Archives and Records Administration (as the newly signed law states) despite the President's attempt to move it to the Department of Justice.  The Albany Times Union agrees and calls on Congress to stand up to President Bush and demand that the ombudsman is funded in the budget.

FOIA Community Conference on the FOIA Amendments of 2007 Podcast available

For those unable to attend the American University College of Law's Collaboration on Government Secrecy's Conference on the FOIA Amendments of 2007, you can now listen to the podcast of the four hour plus event.  The multi part podcast can be found here.

More on Proposed Cut to Ombudsman by Bush

The Washington Post is reporting the White House's reaction to its proposed move of the FOIA Ombudsman's Office to the Department of Justice.  A spokesman named Tony Fratto said that the Bush administration strongly supports "the timely and fair resolution of FOIA requests" but that "only the Department of Justice, as the government's lead on FOIA issues and mediation in legal matters, is properly situated and empowered to mediate issues between requesters and the federal government."

I've been working in FOIA for over 15 years and have never heard of Tony Fratto--I doubt he knows anything about the FOIA process, because if he did, he would never make the above statement.  That is because the inherent conflict that Department of Justice has in mediating FOIA disputes, when it makes FOIA policy and litigates FOIA lawsuits on behalf of government agencies, makes the above statement laughable.

On another note, the Post reports that Open Government groups are preparing a letter to send to Congress protesting the move of the Ombudsman's Office to Justice. 

So even though the FOIA legislation has been passed and signed into law, it is far from done.  Maybe now Congress will reopen the issue and specifically overturn the Ashcroft memorandum and fund agency FOIA operations--like they should have done originally.

Bush to Congress: No FOIA Ombudsman

Those that thought the President's recent signing of the recent FOIA amendments law was too good to be true were greeted Monday with the other shoe dropping.  In his most recent budget proposal, the President failed to provide any funding for the FOIA Ombudsman's Office in the National Archives and Records Administration and attempts to shift the responsibilities of that office to the Department of Justice.  Reaction as shown in this article was widespread and critical of the President's decision.

Readers of my blog know I stated that without providing funding for FOIA Operations, this law had minimal impact.  Unfortunately it only took one month (and a full eleven months before many of the provisions of the law become effective) for me to be correct.

Champion of Government Secrecy to Retire

Congressman Tom Davis (R-Va), the legislator who was responsible for stripping the provision that overrode the Ashcroft memorandum from the recently enacted FOIA amendments has announced that he will not seek re-election in the Fall.  By taking out the language that specifically stripped the Ashcroft memorandum from the legislation, Davis allowed that any pro-disclosure language in the FOIA bill is merely advisory and has no teeth to force the government to release anything that is arguably withholdable under one of the nine FOIA provisions.

DOJ Analysis of New FOIA Law

The Department of Justice has posted it's initial analysis of the new FOIA law.  According to DOJ, it will issue more specific guidance on the new law after it consults with the Office of Management and Budget ("OMB"). 

Administration Already Backing Away From New FOIA Law

The ink is barely dry from the President's signing of the amendments to the FOIA, and the White House is already working on watering down the implications of the act.

As this report by Rebecca Carr states, the White House is trying to move the FOIA Ombudsman's Office that by law is situated in the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) into the Department of Justice (DOJ).  Senators Leahy and Corwyn, who were the main sponsors of the new law, are not happy with this and have promised to fight it.  The reason the new office was placed in NARA rather than DOJ is that DOJ is in charge of FOIA policy and would have a conflict of interest in acting as an ombudsman.

It is unclear whether or not the bipartisan attack on the White House plans will be enough to discourage the administration with following through on this action.