When successful, FOIA requests have revealed government waste, wrongdoing and potential violations of the Constitution. A clear picture of how the shrinking workforce has negatively impacted the public’s access to federal records is finally starting to emerge, as the court filings demonstrate. In April, the Bureau of Prisons told a federal court in the District of Columbia, “Three out of five of the attorneys … left the FOIA office under the deferred resignation program. Congress included an emergency provision in the law for situations when agencies violate the requirements of the statute: It allowed requesters to sue in federal court. According to Person Doe, after staff cuts effectively closed the CDC FOIA office, requests were routed to HHS.

Source: Washington Post March 14, 2026 23:15 UTC