Defending the Public’s Right to Hold Government Accountable

BACKGROUND

In early April, Chairman Jeb Hensarling of the House Financial Services Committee sent a series of letters to 12 Trump administration agencies — including the Treasury Department — instructing them that communications between the committee and those agencies should not be released to the public when responding to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

According to Buzzfeed’s reporting:

“The chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services sent a letter last month to the head of the Treasury Department instructing him to decline Freedom of Information requests relating to communications between the two offices. … The letter reads that since the Committee on Financial Services has legislative and oversight jurisdiction over the Treasury Department, all records of communication between the two offices and any documents produced remain in the committee’s control — even when in the physical possession of the Treasury Department.”

FOIA generally applies to the executive branch, and it gives the public a right to access a wide range of government records. There are a variety of reasons that the government can withhold certain information — such as to protect national security or personal privacy — but the law does not contain a blanket exemption for congressional correspondence with the executive branch, and the public is entitled to those records.

WHAT WE’RE SEEKING

• Communications between multiple executive branch agencies, including the Treasury Department, and the House Financial Services Committee concerning the Financial CHOICE ACT of 2017 or information regarding the agency’s decision to withhold such communications in response to American Oversight’s request under FOIA;
• Records of communication between the Department of Health and Human Services and the House Ways and Means Committee reflecting any attempt to designate communications between the two entities as “congressional records” and therefore not subject to FOIA requests; and
• Records from the National Credit Union Administration to shed light on the process behind the agency’s decision to withhold documents requested under FOIA and to what extent Hensarling’s April letter influenced this action.