1. United States
2. Pa.
3. Letter

Congress must act immediately to restore the Freedom of Information Act. The Trump administration is systematically dismantling public access to government records through mass firings, political retaliation, and deliberate neglect. This isn't bureaucratic inefficiency. It's intentional obstruction of a law designed to keep government accountable to citizens. The numbers tell the story. The State Department's FOIA backlog jumped from 21,000 to 27,000 requests in one year. The Department of Defense saw a 42% increase in backlogged requests. The Department of Education lost more than half its full-time FOIA staff. At the Bureau of Land Management's Arizona division, one person now handles all FOIA requests. Agencies are citing these self-inflicted staffing cuts in court to justify ignoring legal deadlines. Worse, employees who follow the law are being fired. Three staffers at Customs and Border Protection's FOIA office were terminated after one objected to mislabeling records to avoid release. Two employees at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence were fired for releasing a declassified memo. The administration even fired Bobak Talebian, who ran the office that develops FOIA guidance for the entire federal government. More than 1,000 FOIA lawsuits have been filed in the first 15 months of this administration compared to 591 during the same period under Biden. Litigation is now the only way to access legally public information. That's not how democracy works. Pass legislation with real enforcement mechanisms. Mandate minimum staffing levels. Impose financial penalties on agencies that miss deadlines. Protect FOIA employees from retaliation. The law means nothing if you won't defend it.