('Inngreaa at the Hniteh ?tatea 25105 213515 April 11, 2019 The Honorable Betty McCollum The Honorable David Joyce Chairman Ranking Member Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Related Agencies House Committee on Appropriations House Committee on Appropriations The Capitol 1016 Longw01th House Of?ce Building Washington DC, 20515 Washington DC, 20515 Dear Chairman McCollum and Ranking Member Joyce: We write to request a funding increase for the Department of the Interior? 5 (DOI) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) program. According to DOI, it has experienced at least a 30% increase in new FOIA requests since the beginning of the Trump Administration.l DOI also reports having more than 100 FOIA cases in litigation due to agency non-response to requests and is suffering from staff attrition. The situation is particularly acute in the Office of the Secretary FOIA Office, where there has been a 210% increase in new FOIA requests from FY 2016.2 An increase in funding is essential for ensuring that can meet the government transparency goals under the FOIA. Because of the large increase in FOIA requests and litigation, the growing backlog and overwhelming public interest in ensuring transparency during this Administration, we recommend that the funding increase be used to hire at least 10 FTEs dedicated solely to responding to FOIA requests. These FTEs should be supervised, to the extent it complies with FOIA, by the Department?s Deputy Chief Of?cer, a career Senior Executive Service position in accordance with the current structure of DOl?s program. 1 House Committee on Oversight and Reform, 01A Examining Transparency Under the Trump Administration (Mar. 13, 2019) (Testimony of Rachel Spector, Deputy Chief Freedom of Information Act Of?cer, Of?ce of the Solicitor, Department of the Interior). 3 83 FR 67175 PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER Sincerely, Committee on Natural Resources j/w?x TJ Cox Chairman Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Committee on Oversight and Reform Harley Rouda if Chairman Subcommittee on the Environment Committee on Oversight and Reform