White House Plans A Single FOIA Portal Across Government

The White House plans to launch a single online portal where journalists, researchers and other citizens can file Freedom of Information Act requests, according to an early draft of commitments to the international Open Government Partnership.

A single FOIA portal could significantly reduce the time FOIA requesters spend managing requests that cross multiple agencies. It may also make it easier for agencies to forward requests within the government and to publicize responsive documents so FOIA officers don’t lose time digging for the same document twice. The government-wide portal could be based on FOIA Online, a year-old system that tracks FOIA requests for the Commerce Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, though the White House doesn’t mention the system by name. FOIA Online is the only multi-agency online FOIA portal in government so far.