House Oversight Committee Ranking Member, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA11), Demands Answers After CDC Whistleblower Exposes Trump Administration Eliminated Agency’s Entire FOIA Office

“I write with concern regarding reports that the entire staff of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) office tasked with responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests has been placed on administrative leave pending their termination.  Specifically, Committee Democrats received information that 22 members of the FOIA office were given notice on April 1, 2025, that their last day would be June 2, 2025, and they were immediately placed on administration leave.  As a result, there are currently zero personnel available to process FOIA requests received by CDC.  The elimination of staff responsible for facilitating FOIA strongly implies an effort by the Administration to prevent the public from obtaining information about their government that they are entitled to request,” wrote Ranking Member Connolly.

Under FOIA, every American has the right to demand transparency and accountability from our government by filing a request for government records.  Since its enactment in 1967, it has been crucial to ensuring government transparency and accountability.

Ranking Member Connolly continued, “The press and the public have recently used the FOIA process to seek records related to the President’s sudden termination of thousands of employees at Health and Human Services (HHS), including CDC.  These layoffs and reductions in CDC’s capacity come at a time when communities across the United States are struggling to manage infectious disease outbreaks.  Now more than ever, maintaining transparency about the operations of the broader HHS—and CDC in particular—is crucial to understanding the government’s capacity to respond to such crises.”

In his letter, the Ranking Member Connolly underscores that the Trump Administration is not upholding its legal obligation to process FOIA requests:

“To properly respond to FOIA requests in accordance with the law, agencies must have appropriately staffed and functional processing offices.  According to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), upon filing FOIA requests in early April they received an automated response stating the ‘FOIA office had been placed on admin leave and is unable to respond to any emails.’  The removal of the entire FOIA office at CDC greatly diminishes the public’s access to accountability and transparency and undermines the agency’s ability to meet its legal obligations.”

Ranking Member Connolly asked for compliance with his requests for documents and information no later than May 8, 2025.

Click here to read the letter to CDC Acting Director Susan Monarez.