MuckRock

Requesters are using chatbots to brainstorm agencies, identify possible records, summarize documents and understand denial letters. Agencies are testing artificial intelligence, machine learning and e-discovery tools to search large collections of records, remove duplicates, flag sensitive information and narrow what human reviewers need to examine. A recent MuckRock FOIAFriday discussion on AI and public records highlighted the tension.

On July 4, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act into law, giving the public a legal right to request records from federal agencies. Six decades later, that right is being exercised more than ever. Federal agencies received more than 1.7 million FOIA requests in fiscal year 2025 and processed over 1.6 million, according to annual report data published by the Justice Department’s Office of Information Policy on FOIA.gov.

The U.S. military banned slot machines from domestic bases in 1951. But that hasn’t stopped gambling on American military bases overseas, where slot machines continue to operate through the Army Recreation Machine Program, part of the Morale, Welfare and Recreation program. Overseas, the Pentagon has been running a gambling operation that generates about tens of millions each year.

During a recent MuckRock FOIAFriday training, Danielle Ohl of Spotlight PA described the overlap between federal immigration enforcement and local government as “butter melted into toast.” The two can be difficult to separate. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement relies heavily on local infrastructure, including jails, county governments and municipal law enforcement agencies.

The Trump administration is moving to require all federal government employees to sign a nondisclosure agreement. While the draft agreement largely restates existing restrictions on disclosure of sensitive material, lack of clarity around the broad range of records that it could cover and the potential consequences for noncompliance laid out in the draft form could make government employees more cautious about what they disclose under the Freedom of Information Act.

If you’ve filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act or a state equivalent and received a denial, delay or heavily redacted response, you’re not alone. Even experienced reporters run into roadblocks. Some are legitimate, some are not, but many are fixable. This guide breaks down the most common reasons requests get denied, how to revise your language and what to do when agencies stall, over-redact or claim records don’t exist. Common reasons FOIA requests get denied 1.

Since 1996, the 287(g) program has enabled U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to delegate immigration enforcement duties to state and local law enforcement Federal databases show which counties and municipalities participate in the program, but do not reveal how those agreements function in practice. Jurisdictions operating under the same federal program can have very different levels of cooperation, enforcement and discretion.

Today, MuckRock is announcing its Election Accountability Cohort. A group of six newsrooms in competitive states will receive year-long enhanced memberships to the Sunlight Research Desk to bolster their 2026 midterm election reporting. In a recent MuckRock survey, the majority of newsrooms said staffing shortages, limited access to data and the high cost of investigative tools are getting in the way of stories their communities need.

The Pulitzer Prizes honors the very best in journalism, at a time when journalism and their subjects are under threat. The Washington Post won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service for its reporting on the overhaul of federal agencies and layoffs driven by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency.

Many newsrooms covering the 2026 midterm elections are understaffed and under-resourced. Between March 10 and April 6, 2026, MuckRock sent a survey to local and regional newsrooms asking three questions: What are you planning to cover, where are you stuck and what would actually help? From single-reporter shops to multistate collaboratives, 35 organizations shared their insights.