Today we present an interview with Marianne Manheim, Chief of the FOIA, Privacy and Records Branch at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health at the Department of Health and Human Services and a member of the 2024-2026 FOIA Advisory Committee. This is part of a series of posts on the Committee, whose members are FOIA experts from inside and outside of government and who are appointed by the Archivist of the United States.
Why did you wish to serve on the FOIA Advisory Committee?
When I first started working on FOIA, there would be the occasional training at DOJ [Department of Justice] and ASAP [American Society of Access Professionals], but I always felt like agency staff and requesters weren’t really talking outside of their immediate environment. We would sit around and have ideas to improve the FOIA, but it wouldn’t really go anywhere. When the Advisory Committee started [in 2014], I thought it was a wonderful solution because it is so inclusive. I’m always very impressed with the members that are appointed. Everyone really cares about making the law work more efficiently, but we all have a different take on it. I love listening to ideas and hope we’ll make a difference in the end.
How do you think this experience will help you in your work?
I like seeing what is going on beyond my agency and I’m already taking ideas back to work. I think of all the recommendations and whether our agency has implemented them. In the long term, I am also sharing information about the Committee at my agency and pulling them more into the FOIA world than just day-to-day case processing. I also love discussing AI [artificial intelligence] and technology with very knowledgeable Committee members. That will help our agency and the public.
What is FOIA’s biggest challenge?
I always say technology, because if we had a magic tool, it would be processed quickly. I think that tool could be made with the technology that exists, but it just hasn’t been packaged and needs the right expertise in the room. We are overwhelmed by the quantities of records that exist and the law was created at a time that you would search for paper on a desk. Definitions and what is reasonable under the FOIA have led to an impossible amount of information to process in 20 working days.
Tell us about your favorite FOIA moment.
The wackiest thing I’ve done in the name of FOIA was at the Iowa State Fair, which was a summer vacation for my family in 2022. I got stuck in a big exhibition room during a lightning storm with former Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley. I knew I had my moment. I told my four-year-old to hold on to my hand and don’t let go as we went through the giant crowd. I had something important to do. We walked right past Mike Pence and didn’t stop until we met Chuck Grassley. I had to tell him how hard we are all working to process FOIA requests, and how committed we are as government employees. We have great staff. We just always need to look towards improving. Senator Grassley was very gracious after being commandeered in the name of FOIA, although he may have been more shocked that we were vacationing in Iowa.
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