Al Shaw of ProPublica has documented significant challenges in obtaining federal staff records through FOIA requests, particularly from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Much of the data Shaw tracks comes from OPM, which maintains extensive information on federal employees.

However, the FOIA department at OPM has faced major disruptions following widespread employee reductions initiated by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in early 2025. A former FOIA specialist at OPM revealed in February 2025 that the entire Privacy team responsible for public records was let go.

Since then, the process of acquiring records has become increasingly difficult, with requests bouncing between multiple abandoned email inboxes and web portals. According to OPM data, over 600 government information specialists who administer FOIA and the Privacy Act have resigned or been fired since the start of the second Trump administration.

These staffing issues have contributed to a doubling of the average processing time for simple FOIA requests at OPM, which now exceeds 84 days. Additionally, Opexus, a contractor that has received more than $50 million in federal contracts, has come under scrutiny for lax cybersecurity practices after two employees were indicted for deleting and compromising government data; one pleaded guilty in April and the other was convicted in May.

On July 23, 2026, 13 days after Shaw filed a support ticket with Opexus, he received a follow-up asking for details about the error he was encountering, highlighting ongoing difficulties in communication and support.

These developments raise concerns about the federal government's capacity to respond to public records requests efficiently and securely.

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