Getting Started

Freedom of Information Act

The Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA (5 U.S.C. 552, as amended), generally provides any person with the statutory right, enforceable in court, to obtain access to Government information in executive branch agency records. This right to access is limited when information is protected from disclosure by one of FOIA's nine statutory exemptions.

Federal Register publications, including The United States Government Manual, daily Federal Register, the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Federal Register/CFR indexes, and the Public Laws are not subject to the request for records provisions of the FOIA. Under the FOIA, our publications are made available to the public through numerous sources, including this website, GPO's govinfo website, the GPO book sales program, and most of the 1,300 Government depository libraries located throughout the Nation.

For more information, see the National Archives and Records Administration Freedom of Information Act Reference Guide. This Guide provides instructions for obtaining information from us using the Freedom of Information Act, both operational and historical records.

Learn more about our FOIA Regulations (36 CFR 1250).

Read the text of the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) 

See our Privacy Program Resources.

Read NARA’s Annual FOIA Reports.