Open Wide: FOIA Reform Expands Public Access to U.S. Government Information

On June 30, 2016, President Obama signed the bipartisan Freedom of Information Improvement Act of 2016 (S. 337). The bill most notably requires that the government operate under a “presumption of openness” in federal law and help protect the public from government secrecy. The main goal of the legislation is to make it more difficult for agency officials to withhold government records sought under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).