U S House of Representatives Committee

FOIA Is Broken U S House of Representatives Committee

Since President Lyndon Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 1966, the FOIA request has been used millions of times for a myriad of reasons. FOIA is one of the central tools to create transparency in the Federal government. FOIA should be a valuable mechanism protecting against an insulated government operating in the dark, giving the American people the access to the government they deserve. The power of FOIA as a research and transparency tool is fading. Excessive delays and redactions undermine its value. In large part, FOIA's efficacy is limited by the responsiveness of the agency that receives and processes the request. On innumerable occasions, agencies have refused to produce documents or intentionally extended the timeline for document production to stymie a request for information. In many cases, American citizens find themselves frustrated by the total lack of response from the government they are asked to trust.