FOIA Campaign

We asked the government to show its work.

To document how Washington, DC is governed differently than the fifty states, we filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the federal agencies that exercise authority over the District. Read the requests we sent, and the responses we have received.

14
Requests filed
12
Federal agencies
12
Acknowledged
2
Substantive responses
The Requests

What we sent, and to whom.

U.S. Commission of Fine Arts
Whether the Commission's design reviews over DC building projects are binding or advisory in practice, under the Shipstead-Luce and Old Georgetown Acts.
View the request (PDF) →
Acknowledged
National Capital Planning Commission
When the Commission's decisions over the District are final versus advisory, and the congressional makeup of the boards that review DC projects.
View the request (PDF) →
Acknowledged
Office of Management and Budget
How DC's locally raised budget is policed by Congress through appropriations riders, including the ban on spending to lobby for statehood and the Harris Rider.
View the request (PDF) →
Acknowledged
U.S. Department of Education
How federal education programs treat the District differently than they treat the states.
View the request (PDF) →
Responded
U.S. Small Business Administration
How SBA programs treat the District differently than they treat the states.
View the request (PDF) →
Responded
U.S. Department of Transportation
How federal transportation programs treat the District differently than they treat the states.
View the request (PDF) →
Acknowledged
Council on Environmental Quality
How the Council reviews DC-affecting federal projects under the National Environmental Policy Act.
View the request (PDF) →
Acknowledged
Federal Bureau of Prisons
How the Bureau holds and treats people convicted under the DC Code, who are sent to federal prison across the country rather than housed by their own jurisdiction.
View the request (PDF) →
Acknowledged
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
HUD programs in the District and federal oversight of the DC Housing Authority.
View the request (PDF) →
Acknowledged
U.S. Department of Labor
How federal labor programs treat the District differently than they treat the states.
View the request (PDF) →
Acknowledged
Amtrak Police Department
Amtrak Police jurisdiction, operations, and enforcement at Union Station in the District.
View the request (PDF) →
Acknowledged
Department of Veterans Affairs, Police Service
VA Police operations at the DC Medical Center and how they coordinate with the Metropolitan Police.
View the request (PDF) →
Acknowledged

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