The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

Featured Posting

National Security Archive Files Lawsuit Against 12-Year Freedom of Information Backlog

Washington, D.C., November 21, 2024 - The National Security Archive filed suit in federal court today to contest the estimated 12-year backlog of Freedom of Information requests…

Nov 21, 2024

Previous Postings

National Security Archive Director Featured on Peter Bergen’s “In the Room” Podcast

Oct 18, 2024

History Coalition Warns of Critical Needs at National Archives

Jul 22, 2024

Tom Blanton Wants to Know Our Government's Secrets

Washingtonian Magazine Profiles National Security Archive

Jun 28, 2024

U.S. National Archives’ 2025 Budget Request Threatens Mission Failure

Mar 15, 2024

Archive Director Testifies to U.S. Senate on Over-classification

Mar 23, 2023

Key Agencies Missing from Central Freedom of Information Act Portal

Mar 9, 2023

Inter-American Court Orders Opening of Military Archives

Jan 24, 2023

Censored by CIAin 2022 v. Published in 2021

The Public Document a Federal Judge and the CIA Don’t Want You to See

Oct 4, 2022

Haspel Personally Observed CIA Waterboarding, Witness Testifies

Jun 23, 2022

See More Postings

Thank you

Generous funding provided by the CS Fund/Warsh-Mott Legacy and the Open Society Foundations

Featured FOIA Roundtable

In the more than 50 years that the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has been on the books, it has helped revolutionize Americans’ understanding of how their government works in practice. But the agencies and departments of the executive branch that are covered by the FOIA have persistently attempted to thwart its effective implementation.

featured interview

Nate Jones stops by NPR's All Things Considered to discuss the thousands of Donald Rumsfeld "snowflakes" that were released in response to the Archive's FOIA lawsuit.

In the Media

President Carter is 100. The CIA still keeps his Camp David records secret

Freedom of the Press Foundation

Oct 1, 2024

A digital tsunami is coming. The National Archives is in trouble.

The Washington Post

Sep 20, 2024

Biden should declassify Senate report on CIA torture program

Freedom of the Press Foundation

Sep 11, 2024

More Than 10 Years Later, The Senate Torture Report Is Still Secret

The Intercept

Jun 27, 2024

Tom Blanton Wants to Know Our Government's Secrets

Washingtonian

Jun 25, 2024

Featured Videos

FOIA 50th Anniversary - American History TV visits the National Security Archive to talk FOIA history with our director, Tom Blanton. Watch the informative and entertaining 11-minute clip here:

Man vs. FOIA - McClatchyDC talks with National Security Archive FOIA Project Director Nate Jones about the FOIA requesting process.

Why We File - During celebration of the Sunshine Week 2018 Nate Jones talks to the Export Import Bank about the Freedom of Information Act from a requester's perspective.