article: On April 13, 2018, the Arab American Institute (“AAI”) sued the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. AAI alleged that OMB violated FOIA by failing to disclose requested records pertaining to OMB’s decision not to include a combined race and ethnicity question or a Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) category on the 2020 Census. AAI asked the court to declare that OMB violated FOIA and to issue an injunction ordering the agency to release the requested records. This case was assigned to Judge Amy Berman Jackson. One month later, on May 18, 2018, the court ordered OMB to file a dispositive motion or a status report setting a schedule for OMB’s production of documents to AAI. OMB chose the latter, filing its first status report on June 15, 2018. Over the next two years, the parties filed several joint status reports detailing which documents OMB had disclosed to AAI and which documents were still outstanding or disputed. By May 13, 2020, OMB had reviewed approximately 2,000 potentially responsive documents, producing “a number” of them to AAI and withholding 161 of them, claiming they were FOIA exempt. AAI objected to the withholding of five of the allegedly exempt documents. OMB filed a motion for summary judgment on February 10, 2020, arguing that the five disputed documents were exempt under FOIA Exemption 5, which allows agencies to withhold “inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters that would not be available by law to a party other than an agency in litigation with the agency,” including “predecisional and deliberative” documents that reflect internal Executive Branch deliberations. AAI filed a cross-motion for summary judgment on March 12, 2020, arguing that OMB had not provided a sufficient basis for exempting the documents and that the exemption didn’t apply because the documents were not “predecisional.” On August 13, 2020, after conducting in camera review, the court granted OMB’s motion for summary judgment and denied AAI’s cross-motion, finding that the disputed documents were predecisional and exempt from FOIA. 2020 WL 4698098. As of December 25, 2020, AAI has not appealed the court’s decision.
summary: On April 13, 2018, the Arab American Institute sued the Office of Management and Budget under the Freedom of Information Act in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. AAI alleged that OMB violated FOIA by failing to disclose requested records pertaining to OMB’s decision not to include a combined race and ethnicity question or a Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) category on the 2020 Census. In May, the court ordered OMB to file a dispositive motion or a status report setting a schedule for OMB’s production of documents to AAI. Over the next two years, the parties filed several joint status reports detailing which documents OMB had disclosed to AAI and which documents were still outstanding or disputed. OMB produced a number of documents to AAI but withheld some, claiming they were FOIA exempt. AAI objected to five claimed exemptions. The parties both filed motions for summary judgment. After conducting in camera review, on August 13, 2020, the court granted OMB’s motion for summary judgment and denied AAI’s cross-motion, finding that the disputed documents were predecisional and exempt from FOIA. As of December 25, 2020, AAI has not appealed the court’s decision.