American Oversight Warns USAID Over Unlawful Policy Undermining FOIA Rights
We demanded the agency reverse a new rule requiring requesters to reconfirm interest in pending records requests.
Friday, American Oversight sent a letter to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) warning that its recently announced Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) “still interested” rule requiring requesters to reconfirm that they wish to keep their pending FOIA requests open — or risk having them closed altogether — has no basis in law, exceeds the agency’s authority, and was implemented without proper notice or a public comment period on the change as required by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
In September, we filed suit against the U.S. Department of Energy over a similar attempt to require requesters to reconfirm their interest in pending FOIA requests. At the time, we warned the changes at DOE were “being used by the administration as a trial balloon for dismantling FOIA, and if the court doesn’t step in now, this unlawful policy will spread and gut the public’s right to know across the federal government.”
“FOIA was enacted to pierce the veil of government secrecy and ensure accountability — not to make it easier for agencies to hide the truth. The Trump administration is trying to throw up roadblocks that would make it harder for the public to obtain lawfully requested government records,” said Chioma Chukwu, Executive Director of American Oversight. “USAID’s new policy is an unlawful attempt to shut down valid public records requests under the guise of administrative efficiency. The public should not have to face manufactured barriers to access information that belongs to them in the first place.”
According to our letter, USAID’s new rule “actively undermines” FOIA’s core purpose by placing unlawful burdens on requesters and giving the agency a mechanism to sidestep its legal obligation to process records requests. The policy, which goes into effect on Oct. 31, was published in the Federal Register on Sept. 15, and applies retroactively to requests filed before Jan. 20 — including those transferred to USAID from other agencies.
Our letter warns that the “still interested” requirement violates both FOIA and the APA by altering the legal rights of requesters and bypassing long-standing guidance from the Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy. We asked USAID to confirm that it will not administratively close any properly submitted FOIA requests based on non-response to the new policy.