Office of Government Information Services (OGIS)

Home > The Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) > FOIA Resources > FOIA Ombuds Observer > Estimated Dates of Completion Challenges Symptom of Larger Delay Issue

Estimated Dates of Completion Challenges Symptom of Larger Delay Issue

FOIA Ombuds Observer  - NARA and OGIS logo

The Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) offers dispute resolution services to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requesters and agencies. This function allows OGIS to observe and examine the interactions between requesters and agencies across the federal government, and note common questions and issues that arise in the FOIA process. The FOIA Ombuds Observer addresses questions and issues frequently seen in our individual cases. Our goal is to increase efficiency and transparency in the FOIA process.

Estimated Dates of Completion Challenges Symptom of Larger Delay Issue

October 30, 2024
No. 2025-01

As the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Ombuds, the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) plays a unique role in the FOIA process, identifying and surfacing issues and recommending opportunities for change. Our vision is a FOIA process that works for all stakeholders. 

Every day, OGIS receives requests for assistance from FOIA requesters frustrated by delays in receiving responses to their requests; sometimes, they are further frustrated by their inability to obtain any information from agencies about the status of their requests.

Congress amended FOIA in 2007 to require agencies to establish a telephone line or online service that provides requesters with status information, including the date on which the agency originally received the request and “an estimated date on which the agency will complete action on the request.” (5 U.S.C. § 552 (a)(7)(B)(ii)). Since OGIS opened in 2009, we have observed requesters and agencies alike struggle with the conflict between FOIA’s EDC requirement and the statutory response time of 20 working days—30 working days when “unusual circumstances” exist. (5 U.S.C. § 552 (a)(4)(A)(viii)(II)(aa)). Four years after publishing an assessment, an advisory opinion and an Ombuds Observer highlighting the estimated date of completion issue, our observation of the FOIA landscape is that the vision of the law—that agencies can process in a timely fashion and provide an EDC—continues not to be a reality for some agencies.

OGIS has heard from FOIA requesters: 

  • “I have been trying to reach out to the [FOIA contact] at the [agency] to get an update on my request, but I call the number … once a week – no one has ever picked up and there is no mailbox set up. Would you be able to help me get a status report from the FOIA team?” 
  • “I initiated a Freedom of Information Act request on [date]. Since that time, I have written to the [agency] more than a dozen times. I have written to the [agency’s] Inspector General 3 times without a response. I next contacted [my U.S. Senator] .… I was then contacted by [an agency] Assistant General Counsel … who informed me that action would be taken within the next 30 days. As a side note, I find it interesting that no one at [the agency] has a telephone number. Not the Inspector General, the person assigned to process the request or [the] Attorney.” 
  • “I filed [a] FOIA request [request number] [in August]. I was informed that my request falls into the "Normal" processing track, six to twenty work days to complete. [In October] I called [the agency] to inquire as to the status of my request. I was told that I will receive an email within a few days. [Nine days later], I again called…. I was now given [another number] to speak to a liaison. That number does not ring and the voicemail box is full.”

And from FOIA professionals OGIS has heard: 

  • “Unfortunately, we do not have an estimated completion date. We have not started working on cases that [have] been submitted in the new system …. We still have cases in the old system … that we are processing.” 
  • “[We] contacted [another agency] for records but had not received the records yet. Once the records are received, the request will be placed in the queue and [we] cannot provide an EDC until the request is in the queue.”
  • “Unfortunately, I am not able to provide you a timeframe of when [the requester] will receive the records, as it will need to be search[ed], sent back to our office for review disclosure, assigned to the director and then he will assign it to an analyst for processing.” 
  • “[The requester] did not request an estimated date of completion, however, we responded to his status request on [date] … and advised that his request is still being processed.”

These experiences come during a time of swelling backlogs and response times. Between FY 2014 and FY 2023, the average processing times for simple requests nearly doubled, from 20.5 working days in FY 2014 to 39.4 working days in FY 2023. The number of backlogged requests doubled, from 102,828 in FY 2015 to 206,720 in FY 2022.

 

Chart comparing the governmentwide backlog (in blue) to processing time for simple request in working days (in orange) [1].

OGIS’s work on this FOIA administrative challenge goes beyond helping the individuals who come to us every day for assistance on this issue. We use our position as the FOIA Ombuds office to frequently remind agencies of their responsibility to provide EDCs when requested. We also have published several resources and held space for important conversations about EDCs. 

While these resources are several years old, they remain relevant. We recognize that the current FOIA landscape is not the one envisioned in the law, and it is an important ombuds role to identify systemic issues that are ripe for reform. The persistence of inquiries we receive regarding delays indicates a rich opportunity to improve FOIA so that it works for all stakeholders. 

[1] Data from the Office of Information Policy's Summary of Annual FOIA Reports for Fiscal Year 2023 

Top