FOIA Requests: RFK Jr. Vows to Fix HHS Records Backlog

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says public records will start flowing again.

He blamed DOGE cuts for slowing down Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

But now things will get back rolling.

Also, there’s a new website is currently in the works.

This is helping him to keep his pledge to make sure the Department of Health & Human Services is transparent.

Daily Caller reports:

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged at a press conference Tuesday to restore the production of federal records.

Those records, requested by members of the public, were said to be slowed by Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts.

Kennedy also said he will create a new website for HHS documents.

Kennedy said he would seek to publish a greater number of documents requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) — a 1967 law that allows members of the public to obtain government records with some limited exceptions such as information pertaining to national security and trade secrets. The new landing page could include records requested and released previously but unavailable on the HHS website.

HHS currently hosts an online reading room for some records, but it does not serve as a repository of every document released under a FOIA request.

In a department-wide restructuring guided by DOGE and initiated by HHS on March 27, several disparate FOIA offices were consolidated into one, squeezing the department’s capacity to handle requests. The elimination of FOIA offices appeared to cut against Kennedy’s pledges of “radical transparency” and his pre-government track record of FOIA litigation to unearth records from HHS.

DCNF Investigative reporter @emilyakopp: "When will HHS FOIA offices be restored?"

RFK: "We are restoring all the FOIA offices…. And we're going to try to get as close as we can to total transparency." pic.twitter.com/FIqLVvLG4I

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 22, 2025

Transparency is coming.

The exact opposite of what the Establishment wants.

They thrive in the dark, behind closed doors.

In fact, the goal is so much transparency that the FOIA isn’t even needed.

RFK Jr addressing HHS and going over his main goals of restoring trust in the department

“We will shut the Revolving Door to establish public trust

We will make our data and our policy process so transparent that people won’t even have to file a FOIA request” @RobertKennedyJr pic.twitter.com/ck0CV3Qp8B

— SwampyUniparty (@SwampyUniparty) February 18, 2025