We are pleased to announce that Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero has appointed 20 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) experts — 10 government FOIA professionals and 10 requester community representatives — to serve on the fourth term of the FOIA Advisory Committee.
We welcome back Michael Morisy of MuckRock; James Stocker of Trinity Washington University; Tom Susman with the American Bar Association; and Patricia Weth with the National Labor Relations Board. And, of course, Alina Semo, director of the Office of Government Information Services, and Bobby Talebian, director of the Office of Information Policy, who under the Committee charter, represent their respective offices on the Committee. Ms. Semo will chair the 2020-2022 term of the Committee, which is scheduled to have its first meeting on September 10, 2020.
The Committee, established in 2014, studies the federal FOIA landscape and advises on improvements to FOIA administration by all 15 Cabinet-level departments and 103 independent agencies. The 2018-2020 term of the Committee made 22 recommendations for improving the FOIA process.
In its July 2020 final report, the Committee suggested that the 2020-2022 term consider whether to extend some aspects of FOIA to parts of the legislative and judicial branches; devote time to promoting past Committee recommendations, and measure and evaluate their implementation throughout the executive branch.
The government members of the 2020-2022 term are:
- Alina M. Semo, Chair, National Archives and Records Administration, Office of Government Information Services
- Roger Andoh, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Allyson Deitrick, U.S. Department of Commerce
- Kristin Ellis, U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Linda Frye, Social Security Administration
- Alexis Graves, U.S. Department of Agriculture
- Patrice Parker, U.S. Department of Defense
- Matthew Schwarz, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Bobak Talebian, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Information Policy
- Patricia Weth, National Labor Relations Board
The non-government members of the 2020-2022 term are:
- Allan Blutstein, America Rising
- David Cuillier, University of Arizona
- Jason Gart, History Associates Incorporated
- Kel McClanahan, National Security Counselors
- Michael Morisy, MuckRock
- Alexandra Perloff-Giles, The New York Times Co.
- Tuan N. Samahon, Villanova University
- James R. Stocker, Trinity Washington University
- Thomas M. Susman, American Bar Association
- A. Jay Wagner, Marquette University
Stay tuned to this blog and the FOIA Advisory Committee website in the coming months for more information on the Committee’s work and its members.
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