Freedom of Information Act

Impact dates

1. Date TBD

   Attorney General to issue new FOIA guidelines

2. Date TBD

   OMB Director to update information dissemination guidance

Key directives

• Adopt presumption in favor of disclosure for all FOIA decisions
• Attorney General to issue new FOIA guidelines to agency heads and publish in Federal Register
• Attorney General to review FOIA reports produced under Executive Order 13392
• OMB Director to update guidance to increase and improve information dissemination to the public, including through new technologies, and publish in Federal Register
• Agencies should take affirmative steps to make information public without waiting for specific requests
• Agencies should use modern technology to inform citizens about Government activities

Who is ordered

• Attorney General · Department of Justice
• Director of the Office of Management and Budget · Office of Management and Budget
• Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies

Timeline

Risks & tensions

• No enforcement mechanism or deadline specified for Attorney General or OMB guidance
• Document explicitly disclaims creating any enforceable rights or benefits
• Tension between transparency mandate and national security/exemption categories not addressed
• Vague 'new era of open Government' language lacks concrete metrics for success