Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. Office of Administration
United State Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
566 F.3d 219 (2009)
After the Executive Office of the President lost track of millions of White House e-mails, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) (plaintiff) filed a FOIA request to the Office of Administration (OA) (defendant), a unit that provided clerical, technical, and operational support to the president and other Executive Office units under the president's direction, but with no management or oversight authority of its own. OA eventually refused to produce most responsive records, arguing it was not an "agency" subject to FOIA; the district court agreed and dismissed CREW's suit, and CREW appealed.
Whether a federal government entity is an agency subject to the Freedom of Information Act if the entity lacks substantial independent authority.