The Department of Agriculture finalized a rule today implementing revised Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) regulations that incorporates important revisions proposed by Cause of Action Institute (“CoA Institute”) in a comment submitted to the agency last year. These changes are a small, but important, step towards more transparent government and proper administration of the FOIA. Learn More
Archives for October 2019
10/15/2019
NASA Adopts CoA Institute’s Recommendations to Improve Revised FOIA Regulations
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (“NASA”) finalized a rule last week to implement revised Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) regulations. That final rule incorporates important revisions proposed by Cause of Action Institute (“CoA Institute”) in a comment submitted to the agency in May 2019. CoA Institute’s comment recommended improvements to several aspects of NASA’s proposed regulations that were inconsistent with current statutory guidelines regarding fee reduction classifications and the proper scope of searches for agency records. CoA Institute also recommended that NASA add a provision to implement the “foreseeable harm” standard—a new statutory requirement that CoA Institute has been investigating government-wide. These changes are a small, but important, step towards more transparent government and proper administration of the FOIA. Learn More
10/11/2019
White House Issues Executive Orders Curtailing Use of Guidance Documents to Bypass Notice-and-Comment Rulemaking and Imposing Public Disclosure Requirement
On October 9, 2019, the White House issued two executive orders designed to curtail the abuse of guidance documents by government agencies. Both orders address due process violations by agencies by requiring notice and an opportunity to be heard before action can be taken or liability imposed against alleged wrongdoers. Learn More