By Manny Marotta, FTC law clerk

The Freedom of Information Act is one of the public’s most important transparency tools, and when properly used, it promotes accountability and trust in government.

But for better or worse, not every government entity is subject to FOIA as it’s currently written.

That distinction was reaffirmed this week by D.C. District Judge Trevor McFadden, who dismissed a lawsuit by America First Legal seeking to compel FOIA disclosures from the Judicial Conference of the U.S. and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Fix the Court agrees with the dismissal and with the court’s reasoning.

The issue behind the case was whether the Judicial Conference and the AO are “agencies” subject to FOIA or instead part of the judicial branch. (FOIA expressly excludes as “the courts of the United States.”) Judge McFadden’s opinion concluded they are judicial entities, not executive agencies, and are therefore outside FOIA’s reach.

America First Legal argued that because the Judicial Conference and Administrative Office perform administrative and policy-related functions, they should be treated as executive or independent agencies. The court rejected that premise. FOIA’s structure is executive-focused, and Congress deliberately exempted itself and the third co-equal branch. Administrative functions, McFadden explained, do not magically transform judicial institutions into executive actors.

This ruling does not reject transparency as a value, nor does it nullify FOIA’s overarching importance. It merely rejects one legal theory of FOIA’s powers.

As we’ve said previously, parts of the judiciary should absolutely be subject to FOIA. But this suit isn’t the way to do it, and thankfully, Judge McFadden agreed.