White House Plans to Scuttle the FOIA Ombudsman Office

Less than a month after the President signed a landmark Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reform bill, the Sunshine in Government Initiative (SGI), of which NAA is a founding member, is battling for proper implementation of this good government law. According to Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and John Cornyn (R-TX), the lead sponsors of the FOIA reform bill, there is a reported plan by the White House to move funding for the new FOIA ombudsman office from the neutral National Archives and Records Administration to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

NAA fought for the ombudsman office in the FOIA reform bill because it ensures a neutral third party will mediate disputes between FOIA requestors and the federal government. This reported plan by the Administration to move funding from the National Archives to the DOJ violates the plain language of the statute and the intent of Congress to keep the ombudsman function separate from the DOJ. In our view, the Department has a clear conflict of interest since it represents federal agencies sued by FOIA requestors.

If this reported funding move is proposed in the president's budget – to be released on Feb. 4th – NAA and our colleagues in SGI will vigorously oppose this move on Capitol Hill. This funding issue is an example of the importance of staying vigilant on federal government implementation of the new FOIA reform law.

First Published:
February 01, 2008