The Office of Government Information Services 2026 Report for Fiscal Year 2025 is now available on our website. Highlights for the year ending September 30, 2025, include:
- OGIS provided timely mediation and assistance, handling 6,061 cases and closing 6,088 — with 90% initiated or acknowledged within 10 days of date logged and 99% closed within 90 days. These cases remain a vital source of insight into system-wide FOIA challenges.
- OGIS published a congressionally mandated assessment of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs FOIA program, with 10 findings and 15 recommendations for improvement.
- Through 28 blog posts and 137 X posts, OGIS continued its online outreach. Public comments and open meetings provided vital feedback loops, helping shape the national FOIA dialogue.
- OGIS convened the 2025 Sunshine Week program that focused on transparency and access, the OGIS Annual Open Meeting, one Chief FOIA Officers (CFO) Council meeting and four FOIA Advisory Committee meetings—all aimed at fostering dialogue on important FOIA matters.
- OGIS chaired and managed the FOIA Advisory Committee, composed of representatives from inside and outside the government, which worked on three subcommittees: Implementation, Statutory Reform, and Volume and Frequency.
- OGIS issued two Ombuds Observers, one focused on estimated dates of completion challenges and a second highlighting how requesters can use FOIA to access records held by Intelligence Community agencies.
- OGIS reviewed 10 agency FOIA regulations and engaged in 166 compliance communications, alerting agencies about FOIA compliance issues.
- Finally, through the Records Management Self-Assessment, to which 99% of agencies responded, OGIS gleaned key insights about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in FOIA processing; records retention; and FOIA training.
Please save the date for Tuesday, August 4, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. ET when OGIS will host its Open Annual Meeting in accordance with the FOIA statute which requires OGIS to report annually to Congress and the President, and to have an annual meeting on OGIS’s “review and reports.” Interested persons may present oral or written statements at the meeting, in accordance with the statute. The agenda is still being finalized but will include OGIS Director Alina M. Semo providing an overview of the services offered by the FOIA Ombuds during FY 2025. Registration is now available at: https://www.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_x7292W9ERX-GAYB4wngGwg#/registration
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