Executive Office of the President

About the agency
The Executive Office of the President (EOP) is a group of about a dozen agencies at the forefront of the executive branch of the US government. The EOP supports the work of the President and is generally overseen by the White House Chief of Staff.

Records available
Because the White House itself is not subject to the FOIA, submitting FOIA requests to agencies within the EOP is a useful way to "bypass" the FOIA's inapplicability to the White House Office and learn more about executive branch functions. Agencies such as Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) are all subject to FOIA.

USTR, in a noteworthy move, even started proactively making available its visitor logs on its FOIA Reading Room after a series of FOIA requests seeking this information.

Requester suggestions, tips and guidance
OMB, CEQ, ONDCP, OSTP, and USTR will not accept attachments in emails due to security reasons. When sending a FOIA request to one of these agencies via email, be sure to write the request in the body of the email instead of an attachment.

Appeals suggestions, tips and guidance
Learned something about this agency's process through an appeal? Let everyone know.