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FOIA Update: FOIA Memo on White House Records

FOIA Update
Vol. XIV, No. 3
1993

FOIA Memo on White House Records

The following is the full text of a memorandum sent by Associate Attorney General Webster L. Hubbell to the principal FOIA administrative and legal contacts at all federal agencies on November 3, 1993, regarding the FOIA consultation procedures required for any White House-originated record or information found in agency files:

The purpose of this memorandum is to set forth the procedures to be followed by all federal agencies for the handling of any White House-originated record or information that is found responsive to an access request made under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552 (1988).(1)

In processing FOIA requests, agencies searching for responsive records occasionally find White House-originated records (or records containing White House-originated information) that are located in their files. These records raise special concerns, including questions of executive privilege, and require special handling--particularly in light of the White House's unique status under the FOIA.

By its terms, the FOIA applies to "the Executive Office of the President," 5 U.S.C. § 552(f), but this term does not include either "the President's immediate personal staff" or any part of the Executive Office of the President "whose sole function is to advise and assist the President." Meyer v. Bush, 981 F.2d 1288, 1291 n.1 (D.C. Cir. 1993) (quoting H.R. Rep. No. 1380, 93d Cong., 2d Sess. 14 (1974)); see also, e.g., Soucie v. David, 448 F.2d 1067, 1075 (D.C. Cir. 1971). This means, among other things, that the parts of the Executive Office of the President that are known as the "White House Office" are not subject to the FOIA; certain other parts of the Executive Office of the President are.

In coordination with the Office of the Counsel to the President, the Department of Justice has determined that agencies should implement the following FOIA procedures regarding all White House-related records or information found in their files. Please note that these procedures prescribe "consultations," which do not involve a transfer of administrative responsibility for responding to a FOIA request, as distinct from complete record "referrals."(2) In all instances involving White House records or information, your agency will be responsible for responding directly to the FOIA requester once the process of consultation is completed.

  1. Records originating with any part of the "White House Office"(3) should be forwarded to the Office of the Counsel to the President for any recommendation or comment it may wish to make, including any assertion of privilege, prior to your response to the FOIA requester. Please be sure to advise the White House Counsel's Office of any sensitivity that these records have from the perspective of your agency and whether you believe any FOIA exemption applies. If after considering the possibility of discretionary disclosure in accordance with the Attorney General's FOIA Memorandum of October 4, 1993 you believe that a FOIA exemption applies, you should mark each record accordingly to facilitate review by the Counsel's Office of your proposed response.

    All such consultation communications should be forwarded to the White House Counsel's Office at the following address:

    Office of the Counsel to the President
    The White House
    1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
    Washington, D.C. 20500

    Please note that many records originating with the White House Press Office, such as "Press Briefings" and "White House Talking Points" (unless they are marked as, or appear to be, drafts), are in the public domain and thus may be disclosed without consultation. Questions concerning records likely to be in the public domain should be referred to the White House Counsel's Office as well.

    It is possible that a record originating in the White House Office (or in the Office of the Vice President -- see below) will be one over which the White House Office (or the Office of the Vice President) has retained control, in which case it will not be an "agency record" subject to the FOIA even though it is located by a federal agency in response to a FOIA request. Accord, e.g., Goland v. CIA, 607 F.2d 339, 345-48 (D.C. Cir. 1978) (honoring "retention of control" by non-FOIA entity), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 927 (1980); see also Paisley v. CIA, 712 F.2d 686, 692-95 (D.C. Cir. 1983); Holy Spirit Ass'n v. CIA, 636 F.2d 838, 840-42 (D.C. Cir. 1981). Any such records should be identified for special handling.

  2. Any record originating with the Office of the Vice President or any of its component offices, offices which likewise are not subject to the FOIA, should be forwarded for consultation purposes to the Office of the Counsel to the Vice President, Old Executive Office Building, Room 269, Washington, D.C. 20501.

  3. All records originating with other offices within the Executive Office of the President (EOP) -- including the Office of Administration; the Office of Management and Budget; the Office of Science, Technology and Space Policy; the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; the Council on Environmental Quality; and the Office of National Drug Control Policy -- should be forwarded to the FOIA officers of the relevant individual EOP offices. This, again, is for consultation purposes only; agencies remain responsible for responding directly to the FOIA requester once these EOP consultations have been completed. For your convenience, a contact list for these EOP offices is attached.

  4. Responses to FOIA requests for any classified White House records or records originating with the National Security Council should be coordinated with Ms. Nancy V. Menan of the National Security Council at the following address:

    Director of Information Disclosure
    Office of Information Disclosure
    National Security Council
    Old Executive Office Building, Room 392
    Washington, D.C. 20506

    Records originating with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs or his deputy should continue to be treated as records originating in the White House Office (see footnote 3 above).

    If any question arises regarding these procedures, either generally or in any particular case, please do not hesitate to contact Margaret Ann Irving, Acting Deputy Director of the Justice Department's Office of Information and Privacy, at (202) 514-4251.

Attachment

cc: All Agency General Counsels __________________________________

1. This memorandum supersedes the Department of Justice's January 28, 1992 memorandum on this subject.

2. See FOIA Update, Summer 1991, at 3-4 ("OIP Guidance: Referral and Consultation Procedures") (further discussing differences between these two procedures).

3. The "White House Office" includes, among other components, the Offices of the President, Cabinet Affairs, Chief of Staff, Communications, First Lady, Counsel to the President, Intergovernmental Affairs, Legislative Affairs, Management and Administration, Operations, Political Affairs, Presidential Personnel, Public Liaison, Scheduling and Advance, Staff Secretary, Correspondence, Visitors, Policy Development, Domestic Policy Council, Environmental Policy, Council of Economic Advisors, National Economic Council, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. The White House Office also includes task forces and working groups created by the President or an official in the White House Office, and reporting to the President or an official in the White House Office, including, for instance, the National Performance Review.

ATTACHMENT

Executive Office of the President -- Agencies Subject to the FOIA

Council on Environmental Quality
Deputy General Counsel
722 Jackson Place, N.W., Room 31
Washington, D.C. 20006

Office of Administration
Director, Administrative Services Division
Old Executive Office Building,
Room 350
Washington, D.C. 20500

Office of Management and Budget
Deputy Assistant Director for Administration
New Executive Office Building,
Room 9026(*)
Washington, D.C. 20503

Office of National Drug Control Policy
FOIA Officer
750 17th Street, N.W., 8th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20500

Office of Science, Technology and Space Policy
Executive Director
726 Jackson Place, N.W., Room 5013
Washington, D.C. 20500

Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
FOIA Officer
600 17th Street, N.W., Room 222
Washington, D.C. 20506

* OMB requests that records be forwarded to the attention of Darrell A. Johnson at this address.

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Updated August 13, 2014

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