People cannot use the FOIA to request records from Congress, federal courts, the President, Vice President, or private entities. The courts review the timeliness of an agency’s response, the accuracy of an agency’s analysis and/or determination, and can personally review contested documents to determine whether information was properly redacted. CourtsĬourts enforce the FOIA and can order agencies to release records improperly withheld from a requester. Guidance has come from the President, the Attorney General, the Office of Information Policy at the Department of Justice (DOJ), and even OGIS. The executive branch will often issue guidance on the implementation of the FOIA for agencies. These regulations include information about how the agency processes a request and provides details about fee categories and waivers, expedited processing, and other procedures for making a request. The FOIA also requires agencies to promulgate regulations for implementing the law. The FOIA does not require agencies to create a new record or analyze data when responding to requests. People are entitled to records either created or obtained by an agency and under the agency’s possession or control at the time of the request. The executive branch is comprised of federal agencies that are subject to the FOIA. The FOIA also codified a special access provision that prohibits agencies from withholding information from Congress based on a FOIA exemption. Congress also holds oversight hearings about agency FOIA compliance and general executive branch transparency. Congress also oversees the law’s application and amends the law as necessary, especially when executive and judicial branches undermine the intent of the FOIA. FOIA & The Role of the Three Branches of Government CongressĬongress enacted the FOIA and its subsequent amendments. OGIS also reviews agency FOIA policies, procedures, and compliance and issues advisory opinions.
OGIS mediates disputes between requesters and agencies as well as answers questions related to the FOIA process. People can seek assistance from the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), the FOIA ombudsman.
These exemptions, however, are discretionary and the agency could, if they wanted to, disclose those records. The agency has a burden to justify the application of an exemption. These exemptions should be narrowly applied. These nine exemptions protects interests such as for national security, personal privacy, law enforcement, and privileged communications. Agencies are required to release information that is not protected from disclosure by nine exemptions. People do not have to state a basis for the request or how they’ll use that information. Federal agencies are obligated to provide records in their possession to all who request information. There is a presumption of openness where the FOIA set out a fundamental commitment to make government information available to the public. The FOIA has been subsequently amended several times to remove obstacles from requesters and to clarify aspects of the statute. When the FOIA was initially enacted, there were problems with delays, lack of judicial oversight, and agencies were not complying with the law.
EPIC has aggressively used the FOIA and other open government laws to enable public oversight of these potentially invasive surveillance measures. For example in the post 9/11 era, the government has increasingly sought to expand its power to collect information about people, disregarding public accountability by keeping these surveillance measures a secret. It is particularly important when the government tries to hide is activities behind a wall of secrecy. People have used the FOIA to uncover waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government.Īccess to information and government transparency allows for informed public debate as well as keeps the government accountable. The FOIA is critical to the functioning of a democratic government because it helps ensure that the public is fully informed about what the government is up to. Enacted in 1966, the FOIA was a milestone in the development of open government laws and has been mirrored globally by other countries.
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