Strengthen the Freedom of Information Act

A photo illustration of documents gathered during an AP investigation - AP21166836655820

AP Illustration

The Freedom of Information Act gives the public a right to access government records.

The Freedom of Information Act is supposed to shed light on government activity by giving journalists and the public access to government records. But the law is in shambles. From endless delays in response time and unjustified refusals to ridiculously overbroad redactions, FOIA is plagued with problems.

We must fight back against the government’s refusal to comply with FOIA and urge Congress to reform the law and end backlogs of requests, reduce the number of exemptions, and overturn damaging court decisions.

Write a letter to keep FOIA offices open

Help us tell Congress that Trump’s decimation of FOIA offices across the federal government is unacceptable. Americans deserve access to the records of the government they fund.

First Name * Last Name
Email Address *
Street Address * Zip Code *

Edit this message so that it is unique to you: Dear Senator/Representative, As your constituent, I am deeply concerned about recent closures and reductions in force at Freedom of Information Act offices across the government. I am asking that you PLEASE SPEAK OUT and inform the administration: It is critical that FOIA offices remain fully staffed and open. Records released through FOIA have informed my decision-making as a voter on issues including health, public safety, immigration, and national security. These cuts will both compromise my ability to make informed decisions about the policy issues that are most important to me and impact your office’s ability to conduct oversight. Not only does your office rely on records released through FOIA and reported in the news to inform your investigations, FOIA offices often play a key role in responding to congressional requests for information. If FOIA offices close, government secrecy will get worse and your job will get harder. This will further erode trust in government at a pivotal time. We cannot let this happen. Now is the time to use your considerable influence to support and safeguard FOIA. Your efforts in the coming months to keep our government transparent will have major implications for our country’s trajectory and the public’s faith in its institutions. Thank you.

* Required. We will not share your information with third parties. Learn more

Something went wrong processing this request. Please try again later.

Opt in to email updates from Freedom of the Press Foundation

Something went wrong and your email updates subscription could not be processed. Please visit our signup page and try again.

Thanks for helping us protect FOIA and the right of the press and public to know what the government is up to.

Donate

Share this message on social media:
Join me in encouraging Congress to stop the administration’s attacks on FOIA and our right to access government documents: https://freedom.press/the-classifieds/foia/

Featured Items

It’s time for open records laws to promote transparency
FOIA•Article
Agencies misuse exemptions to cause delay and expense.

Dec. 22, 2022 Seth Stern
Senate FOIA hearing brings hard questions for government witnesses
FOIA•Article
Lawmakers called for modernization and an answer to a “basic question about how FOIA is operating in the context of new technology.”

March 31, 2022 Parker Higgins
Victory on the horizon in the “Free PACER” fight
Court access•Article
The fight to free PACER, the federally managed database of public court records that has sat behind a paywall since its inception, has stretched on for more than a decade now. These efforts may finally pay off in 2022 with a bill poised for the Senate floor that achieves many of the aims of the "free PACER" movement.

Jan. 24, 2022 Parker Higgins
One of the Internet’s most impactful protests, a decade later
Online Censorship•Article
Ten years ago, a powerful online activism campaign against the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act stopped the bill in its tracks, much to the surprise of the lobbyists and legislators who had considered its passage inevitable. Led by grassroots organizers and civil liberties groups, sites big and small “went dark” for the day in a “blackout” designed to draw attention to the issue and direct calls to Washington.

Jan. 20, 2022 Parker Higgins
New lawsuit could finally bring FOIA transparency to the halls of Congress
FOIA•Article
Legislative Branch records don’t receive the kind of public scrutiny the Freedom of Information Act brings to the Executive, but that could change thanks to a novel lawsuit over video records related to the January 6 riot at the Capitol.

Aug. 30, 2021 Parker Higgins
Lawmakers can support journalists, but only by actually listening to them first
Arrests/Prosecutions•Article
In the past two months, lawmakers in Florida and New Jersey have advanced misguided proposals that would effectively classify assaults on journalists as hate crimes. These proposals would do little to fix the underlying issues and would likely create a host of new problems.

April 26, 2021 Trevor Timm Parker Higgins
It’s time for Biden to take action on transparency and press freedom
Biden•Article
As we come to the end of Sunshine Week — the long-running annual initiative focusing on government transparency — we're taking a look at how the first few months of the Biden administration have shaped up on that front.

March 19, 2021 Parker Higgins
Police accountability depends on transparency. Across the state, New York cops are resisting.
Arrests/Prosecutions•Article
The unfolding story of the Daniel Prude case has been a testament to the importance of transparency laws in police accountability. Across New York State, police departments and unions have resisted those efforts.

Sept. 18, 2020 Parker Higgins Audrey Kim | Summer Research Fellow
Supreme Court goes live in the age of COVID, and rules on press freedom issues
Court access•Article
The Supreme Court will take the unprecedented step of broadcasting its oral arguments for two weeks beginning today, enacting in response to the coronavirus pandemic a measure that government transparency advocates have demanded for years.

May 4, 2020 Parker Higgins
Government transparency cannot be a coronavirus casualty
FOIA•Article
Government agencies from the local to federal level are failing to live up to their legal transparency obligations even as the stakes for access to relevant information are at an all-time high.

April 2, 2020 Parker Higgins