Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled last week that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (“NOAA”) must conduct searches of the private accounts and devices of members of the New England Fishery Management Council for records related to the Council’s approval of the Industry-Funded Monitoring Omnibus Amendment. The Omnibus Amendment is the controversial regulation at issue in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, an important case in which the Supreme Court will reconsider the future of Chevron deference next year.
03/15/2022
A Federal Agency Spent Years Fighting to Uphold These Ridiculous Redactions
“11:45 is fine, will be at my desk”
“With the retirement of EXIM Bank’s former Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), EXIM Bank hired a new CISO.”
These are just two lines of innocuous text the Export-Import Bank (“EXIM”) fought to keep redacted in Cause of Action Institute’s (“CoA Institute”) Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) lawsuit that began in July 2019. In a final decision released in January 2022, Judge James Boasberg of the U.S District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that EXIM would finally have to disclose this information after years of stonewalling. Learn More
02/25/2021
Federal Judge Rejects Export-Import Bank’s Arguments for Refusing to Disclose Public Records
Judge James Boasberg of the U.S District Court for the District of Columbia ruled this week that the Export-Import Bank (“EXIM Bank”) must produce a variety of records it initially withheld in response to two FOIA requests from Cause of Action Institute (“CoA Institute”). CoA Institute’s September 20, 2018 FOIA request sought all communications to or from EXIM leadership regarding key EXIM stakeholders and beneficiaries. The May 2019 FOIA request sought information after a Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) report found EXIM potentially provided billions in financing to companies with delinquent federal debt by failing to use a readily available federal database. Learn More
10/30/2020
Cause of Action Institute files opening brief in DC Circuit appeal over definition of a “record” under the Freedom of Information Act
For decades, the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) has provided the public with access to records of the Executive Branch. Yet the definition of a “record” has never been definitively established. To be sure, there has been a great deal of litigation over the meaning of an “agency record” (as opposed to a congressional record or a personal record). But the antecedent question of what exactly a “record” is has only recently started working its way up through the courts. Cause of Action Institute (“CoA Institute”) filed its opening brief today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit as part of its efforts to get some resolution to this important question. Learn More
05/4/2020
OMB Publishes Proposed Revisions to Outdated FOIA Fee Guidelines Following CoA Institute Lawsuit
The White House Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) published a notice of proposed revisions to its Uniform Freedom of Information Act Fee Schedule and Guidelines in today’s issue of the Federal Register. OMB first published the guidelines, which are binding on all agencies subject to the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), over thirty-years ago. They have never been updated, despite repeated requests from the transparency community, the FOIA Federal Advisory Committee, and the Archivist of the United States. The much-anticipated revisions aim to improve FOIA administration and ensure more equitable resolution of fee issues across the government. OMB’s notice comes amid a lawsuit filed by Cause of Action Institute (“CoA Institute”) to force such an update.
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.
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.