U.S. Department of Energy adopted blanket "still interested" FOIA policy, closing pending public-records requests

On August 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Energy published a Federal Register notice adopting a blanket "still interested" policy for pending Freedom of Information Act requests at DOE headquarters [1]. The notice required anyone with a FOIA request filed before October 1, 2024 that DOE HQ had not yet completed to email the agency by September 15, 2025 confirming continued interest, or have the request administratively closed — regardless of how long DOE itself had taken to process it [1]. DOE said its incoming FOIA requests had more than tripled over four years, citing over 4,000 requests in fiscal 2024 and blaming "vexatious requesters and automated bots" for processing bottlenecks [1].

The Freedom of Information Act requires agencies to make non-exempt records available to requesters and does not condition that duty on requesters periodically re-affirming interest in already-pending requests [2]. American Oversight sued DOE, arguing the agency lacked statutory authority to impose the reaffirmation requirement and that the policy violated the Administrative Procedure Act by shifting the cost and burden of transparency from the agency onto the public [2].

Updates

2026-08-05 — Federal judge vacated the "still interested" policy [2, 3]

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson granted summary judgment for American Oversight, ruling that DOE exceeded its statutory authority under FOIA and violated the Administrative Procedure Act by requiring requesters with pending older requests to reaffirm interest or risk closure. Jackson wrote that FOIA "does not authorize defendants to issue a blanket requirement that all requesters reiterate their interest in pending requests," vacating the notice [2, 3].