U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Jason Chaffetz (UT-3), Chairman – FOIA Is Broken: A Report Staff Report, 114th Congress, January 2016.

“The Freedom of Information Act established a right for the public to access federal agency records. The statute simply requires requesters to reasonably describe the records they wish to receive and the agency is required to produce those records in 20 working days. In practice, however, the FOIA process is much more complicated and difficult to navigate. Many of the complications are engineered into the process by the federal agencies themselves. The FOIA process is broken. Unnecessary complications, misapplication of the law, and extensive delays are common occurrences. Agencies fail to articulate reasons for delays or explain how to navigate the process. Requesters wait months, not weeks, before receiving any response. Even a denial on a technicality can be significantly delayed because the agency may fail to read the request for months. Unreasonable requests for detail and repeated ultimatums to respond within narrow windows or start all over reinforce the perspective that the process is designed to keep out all but the most persistent and experienced requesters.”