GAO Criticizes Labor Department Over Failed FOIA Process

Statement

On Thursday the Government Accountability Office issued a report, requested by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, on the Labor Department's failure to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests. The report notes that the department failed to respond to 24 percent of requests within 20 days, as required by law, in fiscal year 2014.

"The Freedom of Information Act is a hallmark for openness in our government. As the GAO report shows, the Labor Department is failing in its duty of transparency and accountability to the American people," said Johnson. "Especially given the Labor Department's recent onslaught of burdensome regulations, I urge Secretary Perez to improve the department's compliance with FOIA so that the public fully knows what the department is doing."

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