Sunshine Week Matters Most When Decisions Are Being Made in the Dark

We’re wrapping up Sunshine Week, the annual celebration of transparency and openness in government. As an organization dedicated to fighting for accountability in government, Sunshine Week is always important to us — but this year the celebration felt especially valuable. We published a special article outlining three of our big victories for government accountability, and three major threats posed by the Trump administration’s efforts to keep the public in the dark.

Over the past year, we’ve successfully fought for the enforcement of records preservation laws, forced the Trump administration to create a paper trail of its actions, challenged state-level efforts to undermine voting rights, and protected Congress’ right to inspect immigration detention centers. We also hosted a training, attended by a wide range of partners, with practical tips on how to use the Freedom of Information Act. Plus, our Deputy Executive Director, Liz Hempowicz, was sworn into the FOIA Hall of Fame during this week’s festivities. 

But there are still many pressing threats to government transparency. The Trump administration has imposed new administrative barriers that make the FOIA process slower and more expensive, and could require requesters to disclose personal details. The administration has started using a rare legal tactic to delay our court cases and slow the production of records: asking courts to delete basic facts. And DOGE — one of the most consequential agencies in the second Trump administration — is arguing in court that it should not have to comply with FOIA or the Federal Records Act.

We will keep working to shine a light on abuses of power and to hold the Trump administration and other bad actors accountable. FOIA, and its local and state equivalents, will remain a vital tool in this fight.

We’re suing over the Trump admin’s unaccompanied immigrant minor welfare checks

Federal law enforcement officers are conducting welfare checks on unaccompanied immigrant children. There are serious concerns about whether these checks could be used to find and deport kids and their families.

This week, we sued the Trump administration to find out more. 

We sent FOIA requests to multiple agencies last June for information about the welfare checks, including policy directives, training materials, senior officials’ related communications, and data on how many checks have been conducted and how many cases have been referred to immigration enforcement.

“For many of these children, placement with a sponsor — usually a parent or close relative — is meant to provide stability after an already traumatic journey. Instead, families who stepped forward to care for them are now left wondering whether a so-called ‘welfare check’ could subject them to detention, separation, or even deportation,” said our Executive Director Chioma Chukwu.

Did Pam Bondi give Trump special treatment in the Epstein files review?

Congress recently subpoenaed Bondi to investigate her handling of the Epstein files, after reporting revealed that the DOJ redacted and removed some files related to President Trump.

This week, we filed a motion for an emergency court order to get records about the government’s review of the Epstein files, including any training or instructions that were given to staff. We are trying to get that information released before Bondi’s deposition so that Congress has what it needs to hold her accountable.

“This administration promised transparency but delivered the opposite: botched releases, quiet withdrawals, and misleading statements from senior officials,” Chukwu said. “That’s why we’re asking the court to order the immediate release of these records ahead of Bondi’s testimony — so Congress can evaluate her candor against the documentary evidence and the public can determine whether the law was followed or whether political interests were protected over the public’s right to know.”

American Oversight in the news

• Conservative voter fraud hunters pitch new computer programs to state officials (NBC News)
• Watchdog fires emergency legal shot to unmask Epstein files before Bondi testifies (Tampa Free Press)
• Trump lashes out at Supreme Court and District Judge Boasberg (TIME)
• The conservative woman cracking down on conservative women (Salon)

Other stories we’re following

• Some DHS contractors told White House officials they were asked to pay Corey Lewandowski (NBC News)
• ‘Go big and go loud’: Inside the Justice Dept.’s push to prosecute protesters (New York Times)
• Why a recorder’s plan to change 137 voters’ registration status in a key election battleground raises legal questions (Votebeat)
• Georgia activists working with Trump administration to influence elections (Atlanta Journal Constitution)