A bill aimed at reforming the Freedom of Information Act passed the House Monday and is headed to President Obama’s desk after years of stalled attempts to address the open records law.
The legislation would set into law the “presumption” of disclosure that Obama encouraged federal agencies to adopt at the outset of his presidency.
However, FOIA responses have suffered under the Obama administration, which has struggled to combat criticism that it has clamped down on transparency.
Hillary Clinton drew renewed attention to the 50-year-old law with her use of a private email network to shield her personal communications from FOIA. The State Department is presently fending off dozens of lawsuits related to Clinton’s records.
The FOIA reform bill would also create a central web portal through which users can request information from any federal agency. FOIA requesters must currently follow different guidelines for each agency from which they wish to file a FOIA request.
