DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary
Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs
Washington, D.C. 20201

Case No. 2018-00578-FOIA-OS
October 19, 2018
Mr. Austin R Evers
Executive Director
American Oversight
1030 15th Street, NW, Ste. B255
Washington, DC 20005
Via email: foia@americanoversight.org
Dear Mr. Evers:
This letter is the final response to your February 07, 2018, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
Specifically, you requested the following records: “1) Any consulting contract, employment agreement,
or any other record reflecting the type and scope of work to be performed by Brett O’Donnell (or his
employer). 2) Any ethics waivers, recusals, or analysis of any conflicts of interest for Brett O’Donnell (or
his employer). 3) A copy of the most recent resume for Brett O’Donnell contained within the agency’s
records.”
The HHS FOIA Office within the office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs processes FOIA
requests for records maintained by the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions. The information requested
in items 1 and 3 of your request would be maintained within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS), an HHS Operating Division. Because your request was addressed to me and CMS’
FOIA Officer respectively, we did not take the liberty of referring your request. CMS states that they are
still processing these items of your request.
A representative from the Office of the General Counsel’s Ethics Division reports the federal ethics
program applies only to government employees and not to contractors. As Mr. O’Donnell is a contractor
and not subject to the federal ethics program, the Ethics Division does not have any documents related to
any waivers, recusals, or analysis of his conflicts; therefore, there are no records responsive to item 2 of
your request.
While we believe that an adequate search of the appropriate files was conducted for the records requested,
you have the right to appeal this finding that no responsive records exist within OGC. By filing an
appeal, you preserve your rights under FOIA and give the agency a chance to review and reconsider your
request and the agency’s decision.
Your appeal must be mailed within 90 days from the date of receipt of this letter, to:
Ms. Kim Hutchinson
Deputy Agency Chief FOIA Officer
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs
Room 729H
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, DC 20201

 Evers – Page 2 of 2
2018-00578-FOIA-OS

Please clearly mark both the envelope and your letter “Freedom of Information Act Appeal.” You may
also e-mail your appeal to: HHS.ACFO@hhs.gov.
If you would like to discuss our response before filing an appeal to attempt to resolve your dispute
without going through the appeals process, you may contact the HHS FOIA Public Liaison for assistance
at:
Michael Bell
HHS FOIA Public Liaison
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs
Room 729H
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, DC 20201
Telephone: (202) 260-0793
E-mail: HHS_FOIA_Public_Liaison@hhs.gov
If you are unable to resolve your FOIA dispute through our FOIA Public Liaison, the Office of
Government Information Services (OGIS), the Federal FOIA Ombudsman’s office, offers mediation
services to help resolve disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal agencies. The contact information
for OGIS is:
Office of Government Information Services
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road–OGIS
College Park, MD 20740-6001
Telephone: 202-741-5770
Toll-Free: 1-877-684-6448
E-mail: ogis@nara.gov
Fax: 202-741-5769
There are no charges in this instance because the billable costs are less than our threshold of $25.
Sincerely yours,

Michael S. Marquis
Director
FOI/Privacy Acts Division