The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress. Often called the “congressional watchdog,” GAO examines how taxpayer dollars are spent and provides Congress and federal agencies with objective, reliable information to help the government save money and work more efficiently.

In April of 2015, I requested all cover pages, for all classified reports, dated 1972 through 1990. I requested ONLY the cover pages, to see what may (or may not) be of interest to pursue.

The GAO is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 USC 552). However, GAO’s disclosure policy follows the spirit of the act consistent with GAO’s duties and functions as an agency with primary responsibility to the Congress. Therefore, I filed the request for this, and the response was below.

It took more than four years for the GAO to release the records.

Document Archive

General Accountability Office (GAO) Classified Report Cover Pages, 1972-1990 [438 Pages, 54.5MB]

The post General Accountability Office (GAO) Classified Report Cover Pages, 1972-1990 first appeared on The Black Vault.

The Privacy Office has a number of oversight and coordination functions, including developing policies to implement FOIA initiatives, providing training, and preparing annual reports. Meanwhile, components’ FOIA offices are responsible for processing the vast majority of the requests received by the department, subject to regulations and policies issued by the Privacy Office. While components report FOIA processing costs to the Privacy Office, which then aggregates and reports them to the Department of Justice, reported costs are incomplete (for example, the costs do not reflect employee benefits or the salaries of staff outside the components’ FOIA offices who retrieve requested documents), thus hindering accountability for total costs.

Regarding duplication, GAO determined that certain immigration-related requests are processed twice by two different DHS components. The duplicate processing of such requests by the two components contributes to an increase in the time needed to respond to the requests. In 2011, DHS established a goal of reducing backlogged FOIA requests by 15 percent each year, and its component agencies have taken actions toward this goal, including increasing staff, reporting and monitoring backlog information, providing training, and offering incentives to staff for increased productivity. Although there was initial progress by the end of fiscal year 2012, backlog numbers do not account for an estimated 11,000 improperly closed requests, and the number of backlogged requests increased in fiscal year 2013 to a level higher than 2011.

Why GAO Did This Study

FOIA requires federal agencies to provide the public with access to government information. In fiscal year 2013, DHS and its component agencies reported processing more than 200,000 FOIA requests, the most of any federal agency. At the end of fiscal year 2013, about half of all reported backlogged federal FOIA requests (about 50,000 of 95,000) belonged to DHS. GAO was asked to review DHS’s processing of FOIA requests. GAO’s objectives were to determine (1) the responsibilities of and total costs incurred by DHS and selected components in managing and processing FOIA requests, and whether duplication exists; (2) actions DHS and selected components have taken to reduce FOIA backlogs and the results; and (3) the status of DHS’s and selected components’ efforts to acquire and implement automated systems for processing requests. GAO evaluated DHS’s and five selected components’ FOIA-related procedures, fiscal year 2013 cost data, and other documentation. The five components together received more than 90 percent of DHS’s FOIA requests during fiscal year 2013. GAO also interviewed department and component agency officials.

Download the Document

 DHS Should Take Steps to Improve Cost Reporting and Eliminate Duplicate Processing, November 2014 GAO Report [46 Pages, 3.1MB]

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/gao/667052.pdf

The post DHS Should Take Steps to Improve FOIA Cost Reporting and Eliminate Duplicate Processing, November 2014 GAO Report first appeared on The Black Vault.