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04/14/2020

Cause of Action Institute Joins Coalition Opposing DoD’s Latest Attempt to Create New FOIA Exemption

Cause of Action Institute has signed a joint letter with groups from across the ideological spectrum urging the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Senate and House Committees on Armed Services to oppose the Department of Defense’s (“DOD”) sixth attempt to undermine the Freedom of Information Act’s (“FOIA”) through a new FOIA exemption.

The DOD proposal would use the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act to exempt from disclosure “information on military tactics, techniques, and procedures, and of military rules of engagements.” The coalition writes:

The Pentagon’s proposed language would undermine FOIA by creating an unnecessary and overbroad secrecy provision at odds with the law’s goal of transparency and accountability to the public…The Department of Defense, and all federal agencies, already have broad and proper authority to withhold classified information under FOIA exemption one, and to withhold unclassified information under a variety of other statutes… We cannot support the proposed language, but we encourage the Defense Department to work with the committees of jurisdiction over FOIA to address the outstanding concerns and accomplish those mutual goals without codifying language that could be easily abused to keep the public and Congress in the dark about our military.

CoA Institute previously signed a coalition letter pushing back on a similar DoD proposal in 2017.

Read the full letter here.

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04/6/2020

Cause of Action Institute Challenges Commerce’s Withholding of Section 232 Uranium Report, Using Policy and Practice of Deferring to White House Disclosure Directives

Last year, Cause of Action Institute (“CoA Institute”) stepped up its ongoing battle with the Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) over disclosure of Section 232 secretarial reports by filing a lawsuit against the agency for failure to respond to Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) requests seeking access to a final report concerning the national-security effects of uranium imports.  This past week, CoA Institute filed its motion for summary judgment, laying out the case for Commerce’s failure to meet its FOIA obligations and exposing the infirmities of the government’s privilege claims.

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03/20/2020

CoA Institute Joins Coalition Supporting Transparency and Public Access During Coronavirus Emergency

Today, Cause of Action Institute joined the National Freedom of Information Coalition and 130 other organizations in a statement urging government transparency during the current coronoavirus emergency.

At all times, but most especially during times of national crisis, trust and credibility are the government’s most precious assets. As people are asked to make increasing sacrifices in their daily lives for the greater good of public health, the legitimacy of government decision-making requires a renewed commitment to transparency.

In times of crisis, access to information is vital to protecting public health and the people’s rights. As federal, state, and local governments implement emergency measures, they should make every effort to commit to transparency throughout this process.

Read the letter here.

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03/16/2020

Gone in an Instant: How Instant Messaging Threatens the Freedom of Information Act

New Report: Federal Agencies Violating Federal Law,  
Not Preserving Instant Messaging Records

Arlington, VA (March 16, 2020)—Cause of Action Institute (“CoA Institute”) and Americans for Prosperity Foundation (“AFPF”) today released an investigative report, Gone in an Instant: How Instant Messaging Threatens the Freedom of Information Act. The report reveals how numerous federal agencies are violating federal records law and guidance from the National Archives by not preserving instant messaging (“IM”) records. Like email in the 1990s, IM’s increasing integration into the workplace is changing the way people do business. In 2014, Congress amended the Federal Records Act to specifically require that electronic messages be retained. Agencies’ failure to preserve records created on IM platforms (Slack, Teams, Hangouts, etc.), which are prevalent in the workplace, threatens to undermine the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) and put much of the federal government in the dark.  

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02/19/2020

Family Fishermen Challenge Illegal, Industry-Killing At-Sea Monitoring Rule from Department of Commerce

Arlington, VA (Feb. 19, 2020) – Cause of Action Institute (“CoA Institute”) today filed a lawsuit on behalf of a group of New Jersey family fishermen to block a new regulation that would force them to pay for third-party “at-sea monitors.”  The industry-killing rule—which was designed by the New England Fishery Management Council and promulgated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Department of Commerce—will require certain boats in the Atlantic herring fishery to carry “at-sea monitors” and at their own cost. Learn More

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01/22/2020

Commerce Department Ignores Congressional Mandate to Release Auto Tariffs Report, Citing New OLC Opinion on Executive Privilege

Last year, Cause of Action Institute (“CoA Institute”) filed two Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) requests for a copy of the Secretary of Commerce’s final report to the President under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 regarding the national security impacts of the importation of automobiles.  That report, which must be prepared prior to the imposition of tariffs, is required by law to be published in the Federal Register, subject only to redaction for classified and proprietary information.  After Commerce failed to publish the report, and refused to release it under the FOIA, we filed a lawsuit to compel disclosure. Learn More

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01/16/2020

Cause of Action Institute Files Appeal with D.C. Circuit to Secure FOIA Access to Internet Browsing History Records

Arlington, VA (Jan. 16, 2020) – Earlier this week, Cause of Action Institute (“CoA Institute”) filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Cause of Action Institute v. White House Office of Management and Budget, a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) lawsuit concerning access government officials’ Internet browsing histories.  The appeal seeks to overturn the district court’s determination that such records are outside the scope of disclosure, even when they are created on government-issued computers in the course of official business.  CoA Institute field the underlying lawsuit against the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) and the Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) in June 2018.

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