President's FOIA Memorandum

Citation
President of the United States, Freedom of Information Act (Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies), 74 Fed. Reg. 4683 (Jan. 21, 2009) (full-text).

Overview
This Memorandum states that:

"All agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure, in order to renew their commitment to the principles embodied in FOIA, and to usher in a new era of open Government. The presumption of disclosure should be applied to all decisions involving FOIA."

The presumption of disclosure also means that agencies should take affirmative steps to make information public. They should not wait for specific requests from the public.