So How Good Are Federal Agencies at Responding to FOIA Requests?

The organization CJOG (Coalition of Journalists for Open Government) recently released an in-depth analysis of Freedom of Information Act responses by 26 Cabinet-level departments and agencies. The reviewed requests were filed from 1998 to 2006. Unsurprisingly, the findings of “FOIA: Still A Waiting Game” essentially show that most federal agencies have made little progress on improving their FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) performance, despite a year-old executive order to become more requester-friendly. CJOG’s report shows that: a) backlogs are getting worse; b) people are waiting longer for information; c) agencies continue to say ‘no’ about as often as they did prior to the executive order; d) those denied information initially get relief on appeal less often; e) FOIA costs continue to rise; and f) FOIA staffing levels have recovered after hitting a low point in 2005, yet efficiency is falling. For more detail, see CJOG’s website at http://www.cjog.net/.