The shutdown has already had a major impact on the FOIA community. FOIA Operations at most agencies have been shutdown (and those where the agencies, like the State Department, have found money to remain open will only do so for a short period of time).
FOIA litigation has been stayed in many, if not all cases. Politico reports on a couple of major cases that now have stays. I've had to authorize stays in cases where I represent requesters because attorneys at all of the offices that defend the government have told me they are not permitted to work on FOIA cases during the shutdown (if they are permitted to work at all). So the lengthy litigation process becomes lengthier.
Websites that the public, including reporters are either down or not being updated with information. According to the National Journal, the shutdown is terrible for transparency.
All of this because a group of individuals hate the Affordable Care Act, which has nothing to do with any of this. In fact and ironically, there are a number of FOIA requests out there in which seek information about the ACA. Those requests will also likely be delayed.
What isn't clear from any of this is how time is going to be counted for those in the administrative process. Are shutdown days business days under the FOIA? What about agencies that are open during the shutdown? If a requester has to write an appeal in a certain amount of time, is that time tolled if the agency is not open? These are the kinds of questions one ponders when they aren't receiving phone calls from FOIA agency personnel to discuss their requests.
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