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\u00a0DOD\/IG Report: DoD Freedom of Information Act Policies Need Improvement, August 16, 2016<\/a> [34 Pages, 3.1MB]<\/p>\nThe Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs requested that the DoD Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) determine whether noncareer officials (political appointees or persons nominated by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate) were adversely affecting the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process at the DoD between January 2007 and July 2015.<\/p>\n
In response, we determined whether DoD noncareer officials unduly influenced the FOIA response process through unnecessary delays or withholding of information that would have otherwise been released absent the noncareer official\u2019s involvement.<\/p>\n
Our evaluation did not disclose any\u00a0instances of DoD noncareer officials unduly\u00a0influencing t he F OIA r esponse p rocess. On\u00a0November 9, 2015, we advised the Chairman\u00a0of the Senate Committee on Homeland\u00a0Security and Governmental Affairs of our\u00a0evaluation results (see Appendix D).\u00a0During the course of this evaluation,\u00a0however, we determined that DoD FOIA\u00a0policies a re outdated.<\/p>\n
The DoD Deputy\u00a0Chief Management Officer (DCMO) had not\u00a0updated DoD FOIA policies, as required\u00a0by DoD Instruction 5025.01, \u201cDoD\u00a0Issuance Program,\u201d to ensure currency\u00a0and accuracy. The DoD FOIA policies did\u00a0not include requirements established in\u00a0Executive Order 13392, \u201cImproving Agency\u00a0Disclosure of Information,\u201d and the \u201cOPEN\u00a0Government Act of 2007.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the Executive Order\u00a0and the Act, agencies must review their FOIA processing\u00a0operations, report on their FOIA improvement plan\u00a0implementation, and strengthen procedures related to FOIA\u00a0administration. Additionally, the DCMO did not incorporate\u00a0guidance being used for \u201csignificant\u201d FOIA releases into\u00a0DoD Regulation 5400.7-R, \u201cDoD Freedom of Information Act\u00a0Program.\u201d<\/p>\n
A \u201csignificant\u201d FOIA request is defined as any FOIA\u00a0request in which the subject matter of the released documents\u00a0may be of interest to DoD senior leadership, the public, the\u00a0media, or Congress.<\/p>\n