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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.

Media, Blog03/20/2020 Learn More

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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Media, Press Release03/16/2020 Learn More

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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Media, Press Release01/16/2020 Learn More

Cause of Action Institute Files Transparency Lawsuit Against California State Controller on behalf of OpenTheBooks.com

Arlington, VA (Jan. 16, 2020) – Last week, Cause of Action Institute (“CoA Institute”) filed a California Public Records Act lawsuit against the California State Controller on behalf of its clients, OpenTheBooks.com and Adam Andrzejewski.  The lawsuit seeks to compel the agency to release records concerning state spending information, including records reflecting line-by-line vendor payments.  OpenTheBooks.com, founded and led by Mr. Andrzejewski, is the largest private repository of United States public-sector spending.  It has been trying to acquire checkbook data from the Controller for over six years, but it has faced continual delay, silence, and obfuscation.

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Media, Press Release01/16/2020 Learn More

USDA Adopts CoA Institute’s Recommendations for Improved FOIA Regulations

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

Media, Blog10/21/2019 Learn More

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

Media, Blog10/15/2019 Learn More

The EPA bypassed public comment on its new FOIA regulations, which raises some important legal questions

The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has long struggled with the politicization and abuse of its Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) processes.  Indeed, as Cause of Action Institute (“CoA Institute”) has repeatedly argued, the agency has a “terrible track record for anti-transparency behavior”—from the weaponization of fee waivers and the use of undisclosed “alias” e-mail accounts, to the failure to preserve text messages and the creation of special “awareness review” procedures for politically sensitive FOIA requests.  Yet the EPA’s rather poor reputation plunged even further in late June 2019, when the agency published an unexpected direct final rule implementing various changes to its FOIA regulations. Learn More

Blog, Media08/8/2019 Learn More