Federal transparency officials have set the stage for a year-end assessment of government information practices, announcing the final Chief FOIA Officers Council meeting of 2025 will convene virtually on December 15.
The two-hour session, running from 10 a.m. to noon Eastern Time, comes just days after agencies face their December 12 deadline to submit annual Freedom of Information Act reports. Open to both government FOIA professionals and the public, the meeting represents one of the key accountability mechanisms established by the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 to enhance government transparency.
“The CFO Council meeting is open to all agency FOIA professionals and members of the public. Time will be provided for members of the public to address the Council,” according to details published on FOIA.gov. Officials note that registration is required for those wishing to participate.
Transparency Oversight in Action
The Council, co-chaired by the directors of the Office of Information Policy (OIP) and the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), brings together Chief FOIA Officers from across the federal government. Its mandate? Developing recommendations, sharing best practices, and coordinating initiatives to improve how agencies handle public information requests.
For those unable to attend directly, the proceedings will be livestreamed on the National Archives’ YouTube channel, as confirmed in the Federal Register notice.
The December meeting caps what appears to be a productive year for FOIA administration at several agencies. The Department of Justice, for instance, reported significant achievements in its 2025 Chief FOIA Officer Report, including “reducing the backlog by over 50% despite receiving nearly 20% more requests” and “processing a record number of requests.”
Why does this matter? The FOIA process remains the primary mechanism for journalists, researchers, and citizens to access government records that aren’t otherwise publicly available. Efficiency improvements directly impact public access to information about government operations.
Guidance and Deadlines
The meeting comes amid a flurry of year-end FOIA activity. The Office of Information Policy has issued several guidance documents throughout 2025, including updated guidelines for Chief FOIA Officer Reports and assessment reviews to help agencies improve their transparency practices.
“OIP posted the following guidance articles to agencies on the implementation of the FOIA,” including “Guidelines for 2025 Chief FOIA Officer Reports” and a comprehensive handbook for Annual FOIA Reports, as outlined in Justice Department materials.
December 12 looms large for federal FOIA officers. That’s the submission deadline for agencies’ Fiscal Year 2025 Annual FOIA Reports to OIP, occurring just days before the Council meeting, according to FOIA tracking resources monitored by transparency advocates.
Public Participation Encouraged
Interested in weighing in on government transparency? The Council has specifically allocated time for public comments during the session.
The virtual format continues a practice that became standard during the pandemic but has remained in place for many government meetings, potentially enabling broader participation than in-person gatherings in Washington, DC.
According to the Federal Register notice, the meeting will run from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. ET, though other sources indicate it may extend to noon.
As federal agencies continue adopting new technologies to streamline FOIA processing, the December meeting may offer insights into both achievements and persistent challenges in government transparency efforts. For transparency advocates and FOIA requesters alike, it presents a rare opportunity to directly address the officials responsible for overseeing America’s primary information access law.
