Justice Department Issues Guidance on "Administrative Closures" for FOIA Requests
The Department of Justice has told federal agencies to continue processing FOIA requests after EPIC and many FOIA groups objected to the practice of "administrate closures." The Department advised agencies to limit administrative closures of FOIA requests and to provide "reasonable grounds" for ending processing. The Department also said agencies should provide requesters at least 30 days to respond to a proposal to end processing of a FOIA request. In 2014 EPIC and a dozen open government organizations stated that "no provision in the [FOIA] allows for administrative closures . . ."