2025 Annual Open Meeting Transcript

Producer: Welcome. We will be starting in a few minutes. This session is being recorded. Jay, it looks like we can get started over to you.

Jay Trainer: Good morning. I'm Jay Trainer, Chief Operating Officer of the National Archives and Records Administration. We are here today because Congress directed the Office of Government Information Services [OGIS] here at the National Archives to have an open annual meeting to inform the public about its reviews and reports and receive public comments. Each day the office known as OGIS provides a range of assistance to the American public and federal civil servants to improve the Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, for all of us. As the FOIA Ombuds OGIS fulfills its [statutory] mandate and Congress's vision for a better FOIA by helping requesters navigate the FOIA process and by identifying procedures and methods for improving FOIA compliance.

Our founding fathers used the Declaration of Independence to list repeated injuries and usurpations against King George the Third. Among those grievances: convening legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from their public records. We are therefore pleased to hold this meeting virtually as it welcomes those outside of Washington, DC to participate in a dialogue about FOIA, which provides a right of access to federal agency records to any member, to any member of the public, regardless of where they live.

For those of you in the Washington, DC area, I invite you to the National Archives flagship building for a new exhibition series, Opening the Vault, highlighting landmark moments in American history. These remarkable documents connect the American story from 1776 right up to today, as America approaches the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which is on permanent display at the National Archives.

While today's OGIS annual open meeting will focus on fiscal year 2024, I want to recognize the work of the OGIS team during the first half of the calendar year 2025. Under the leadership of OGIS, the 6th term of the Federal FOIA Advisory Committee has met three times in fiscal year 2025, including meetings in March and June of this year. OGIS has also worked to finish a congressionally mandated assessment of the FOIA program at the Department of Veterans Affairs. To our staff at OGIS, thank you.

I now turn the meeting over to OGIS Director Alina Simo, to update us on OGIS's activities for the last fiscal year. Alina.

Alina M. Semo: Thank you, Jay. I really appreciate it. Good morning, everyone. My name is Alina Semo, and as the director of the Office of Government Information Services, or OGIS, the FOIA Ombuds, it is my pleasure to welcome all of you to our 9th annual open meeting. I hope everyone who is joining us today has been staying safe, healthy, and well.

In a minute I will go through some basic housekeeping rules and set some expectations as we go through our meeting today. But first, some background on why we are holding this virtual meeting today. In 2016, Congress passed the FOIA Improvement Act, which mandated that OGIS not less frequently than annually conduct a meeting that is open to the public on the review, and reports by the office; and that OGIS would just allow interested persons to appear and present oral written statements at the meeting. Next slide, please.

Before we get started. I would like to review a few housekeeping points. We are using a new virtual platform today, Zoom for Government. So we do ask for your patience as we navigate in a slightly different environment from past meetings. I want to thank our audiovisual team at the National Archives for live streaming this meeting on the National Archives YouTube channel, and for all their behind the scenes support and also a big thank you to my NARA colleagues, who are working hard behind the scenes to support today's meeting.

Following my year in review presentation, we will have a public comment period. We will open our Zoom channel during the public comment period to give registered attendees the opportunity to comment orally. As we noted in our Federal Register notice, each caller will be limited to three minutes each. I want to note that if you are watching us on the NARA YouTube channel, you will not be able to provide oral comments during our public comment period.

However, you are welcome to submit written comments or statements. We are accepting public written comments for 30 days following today's meeting through Friday, August 22. Please use our public comments form available at www.archives.gov/OGIS/public-comments. We will post all comments that meet our posting policy, which is available on the website I just noted.

While we are happy to have all points of view shared, please respect your fellow attendees and keep the conversation civil and on topic. We are recording today's session and we will post a transcript of this event on the OGIS website as soon as it becomes available. The video of this meeting will be accessible for later viewing on the NARA YouTube channel. Next slide, please.

So let's get started. Thank you all for joining us and for the opportunity to share highlights from our fiscal year 2024 annual report. This report, submitted to Congress and the President as required under the FOIA statute, reflects a year of continued service, engagement, and action rooted in our dual mandate to assist FOIA requesters and agencies with disputes, and to review and improve FOIA compliance, government-wide. Next slide, please.

Since we opened our doors in 2009, OGIS has remained a neutral, trusted resource in the FOIA landscape. As the federal FOIA Ombuds OGIS serves as a resource for information and assistance about the FOIA process. Our work as the ombuds ties directly to the mandates given to us in the FOIA statute, compliance and mediation. OGIS hears from requesters and agency FOIA professionals who seek our assistance with the FOIA process in a variety of ways.

It is important to note that in our mediation work we do not dictate solutions or tell agencies they have to turn over records. Our mediation services are completely voluntary. We serve as a facilitator to help agencies and requesters better understand the issues and the other parties’ positions and interests. We are a non-exclusive alternative to litigation; we try to prevent litigation. However, a requester is still free to file a lawsuit if they are not satisfied with OGIS’s services.

We have found that even if we cannot resolve a dispute entirely, we can help the requester and the agency narrow the issues that remain in dispute. Whether we are working on simple or complex mediation issues or reviewing agencies FOIA policies and procedures. Our focus always is on fairness, accessibility, and transparency. Next slide, please.

In fiscal year 2024, we remained steadfast in that mission. We responded to more than 6,000 requests for assistance, and closed slightly more than we received. Nearly 99% of these cases were resolved within 90 days and most were initiated within 10 days. We helped everyone from first-time requesters to those who are very familiar with the FOIA landscape but nevertheless face some procedural hurdles. These individual cases also serve as both pressure gauges and roadmaps for us.

They show us where the system is working, and where it is straining; and we cannot ignore the fact that in fiscal year 2024 the Federal Government received 25 percent more FOIA requests than in the prior year. The unprecedented number of FOIA requests in fiscal year 2024 topped 1.5 million. Next slide, please.

Public engagement is critical to the lifeblood of FOIA reform, and in fiscal year 2024, OGIS engaged with its stakeholders in a variety of ways. We published 31 blog posts and sent over 200 social media messages, sparking important conversations and keeping the FOIA community informed. During our Sunshine Week event, we convened a panel of transparency and technology leaders to unpack the role of artificial intelligence in public access. 

During our 2024 Annual Open Meeting we highlighted the hard work of the FOIA Advisory Committee's 2022-2024 term. The committee brought forward 16 concrete recommendations from modernizing agency workflows to expanding proactive disclosure. The committee also turned the spotlight inward, examining how its own recommendations are being implemented.

The FOIA Advisory Committee moved the needle on meaningful reforms, and even helped spur new practices at agencies like the Capitol Police which launched a FOIA-like process to gain access to its records. Next slide, please.

Several years ago we created a terrific recommendations dashboard in order to keep track of the great work the committee has done for the last decade. We have included the link on the slide as well as an image of the radio button you can find on the lower right-hand side of our front web page at www.archives.gov/ogis. We update the terrific dashboard on a regular basis. So please check back in periodically. Next slide, please.

In fiscal year 2024, we hosted two public Chief FOIA Officers (CFO) Council meetings and we continued our support of the Council's two active committees, the Technology Committee and the Committee on Cross-agency Collaboration and Innovation, or COCACI, that both meet monthly.

In May 2024 we also hosted the Council Technology Committee's NexGen FOIA Tech Showcase 2.0, which followed our first successful event of NexGen FOIA Tech Showcase 1.0 in 2022. Again in 2024, along with the Department of Justice's Office of Information Policy, we provided a platform for private sector vendors to present their latest FOIA technology advancements. The event also raised awareness of artificial intelligence (AI) possibilities and how agencies could potentially leverage AI to address case processing and backlog challenges. 

I invite you to visit the CFO Council tab on the FOIA.gov website. Click on Technology Committee to learn more about this 2024 event. There you will find a list of participating vendors, their responses to a council developed questionnaire and a YouTube playlist of all vendor video demonstrations. Next slide, please.

In fiscal year 2024, we invested heavily in the people who make FOIA work every day FOIA professionals across the government. We delivered targeted negotiation skills training to multiple federal agencies. We also provided five Introduction to OGIS training to several outside organizations. We presented at major national and international conferences, including the International Conference of Information Commissioners, the ICIC, in Albania, and the American Society of Access Professionals, ASAP, in California. We also presented for the first time at the National Association of Government Archivists and Records Administrators, NAGARA, supported by a NARA colleague in the Chief Records Officer's office, and a records officer at another federal agency. Next slide please.

OGIS draws from several important channels of communication to identify and address systemic issues in the FOIA process. These include our congressionally mandated compliance program, the CFO Council, and the FOIA Advisory Committee. For the first time in fiscal year 2024, OGIS began reporting in its quarterly updates the number of times OGIS staff reviewed FOIA-related agency regulations. This past fiscal year we reviewed 58 proposed regulatory changes related to FOIA. OGIS staff also engaged in 16 compliance communications with agencies after identifying systemic noncompliance issues through our mediation lens. Next slide, please.

OGIS's FOIA Ombuds Observer addresses questions and issues frequently raised by requesters. Our goal is to increase efficiency and transparency in the FOIA process. In March 2024, we tackled the elusive Glomar response, explaining when and why agencies neither confirm nor deny, NCND, the existence of records. And yes, we even answered the question: What the FOIA is Glomar? in our OGIS blog. The answer: it's a submarine, a strategy and a FOIA challenge, all rolled into one. Next slide, please.

For the ninth consecutive year we partnered with NARA colleagues in the Chief Records Officer's office to ask several questions in the Records Management Self-Assessment, the RMSA. The 2023 RMSA survey administered to agency records officers from January 8 to March 8 in 2024 garnered a 98% response rate, and included 6 questions relating to FOIA.

Among our findings we were encouraged to see a continued decline in pandemic-related backlogs but we learned that more than half of all agencies still post records only as needed suggesting there is room to grow on proactive disclosures. And FOIA websites were still presenting usability challenges, an area that can benefit from further reform. Next slide, please.

Oh, I think we skipped a slide. I could ask to go back one slide, please. Nope, backwards.

Okay, we're missing a slide. But that's okay. I wanted to pause here and acknowledge the extraordinary work of the OGIS staff. The small but mighty OGIS team has continued to work tirelessly to further NARA's vision of a shared commitment to transparency by facilitating access to records and helping ensure that the FOIA process is working as it should. Next slide, please.

As we reflect on the past fiscal year, OGIS remains deeply grateful for our partners across government and civil society. Together through careful observation, meaningful collaboration, and a deep respect for the public's right to know we are strengthening the FOIA system from inside out. We still have work to do, but we are not doing it alone. We are doing it with all of you. 

There is no doubt fiscal year 2025, and beyond, will bring new challenges, but also new opportunities to improve the FOIA process and public access to information. Next slide, please.

So earlier than I expected, I rolled right through our presentation today. We have now reached the public comments part of our annual meeting. Congress has instructed us that in conducting our meeting that is open to the public on the review, and reports by the office, we shall allow interested persons to appear, and present oral or written statements at the meeting.

Again, if you are watching us on the NARA YouTube channel, you will not be able to provide oral comments at this time, however, we will accept written public comments for the next 30 days. 

As we noted in our Federal Register Notice, each individual caller will be limited to three minutes each. At the three minute mark we will hand the wheel back to our NARA colleague to move on to the next commenter.

An important reminder with regard to oral comments. Please be aware that this is not the right time or venue to ask questions about a specific FOIA request or a specific issue you are experiencing that is unique to you. While we are happy to have all points of view shared, please remember to respect your fellow attendees and keep the conversation civil and on topic.

So with those rules, housekeeping rules that I've just laid out, I will turn now to my NARA colleague who will assist in providing access to anyone wishing to make a public statement at this time.

NARA Producer: Thank you, Alina. Callers on the Zoom call, you can raise your hand with the raise hand icon on the lower screen, and I will unmute you if you would like to make a comment. We have no hands raised at this time. 

Alina M. Semo: Okay. Thank you. And I take it there were no chat comments that came in during the presentation, I'm just going to double check that. Okay, I don't see any. Why don't we give our viewers at least on the Zoom channel just a couple more seconds in case anyone has further comments that they would like to share with everyone.

NARA Producer: At this time there are still no hands raised.

Alina M. Semo: Okay, I think we've covered everything, and everyone is fully satisfied. If there are no further comments we will wrap up our meeting very shortly, and I am happy to give everyone back the gift of time. And there is our three minute clock. Thank you.

So thank you for advancing to the next slide. I want to thank all of you who have joined us for our pretty short annual open meeting today. We want you to keep in touch with us, and here is how to reach us in a variety of ways.

Please subscribe to our blog post and follow us on X. And I want to thank all of you for joining us today, and I do hope everyone and their families remain safe, healthy, and resilient. Thanks again.

NARA Producer: This concludes today's meeting. Thank you.