The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has shut down multiple Freedom of Information Act offices across its agencies, consolidating them into a single office amid concerns it will erode government transparency.
Ben Johansen reports for POLITICO.
In short:
- HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has closed FOIA offices across agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration as part of a department-wide restructuring, consolidating them into a single office.
- The move follows other steps by the Trump administration to weaken oversight, including firing inspectors general across agencies.
- Critics warn the consolidation could worsen already significant FOIA backlogs, making it harder for the public to access timely information.
Key quote:
“It looks like the best case scenario is that there’s going to be a major slowdown in the processing of requests.”
— Michael Rothberg, lawyer focused on First Amendment issues
Why this matters:
The Freedom of Information Act serves as a critical tool for transparency, allowing journalists, researchers, and the general public to access internal government documents that shed light on how decisions are made — including those that impact health, science, and the environment. At the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees sprawling agencies from the CDC to the EPA’s public health arms, the FOIA process is under particular strain. Tens of thousands of records requests flow into HHS each year, touching on everything from pandemic preparedness to toxic exposure and regulatory enforcement. Critics warn consolidation of FOIA offices could create chokepoints, slow responses, and shield internal deliberations from scrutiny at a time when the stakes for public health and environmental justice are high.
Related: Conservative groups file extensive records requests targeting federal agency emails
