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Center for Responsible Lending v. Office of Management and Budget

In January of 2018, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) sent the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request under the Freedom of Information Act seeking certain records the agency had related to a 2017 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule known as the “Payday Rule.” CRL also requested a public interest fee waiver. In October of 2018, OMB estimated it would provide responsive documents by August of 2019.

On January 28, 2019, CRL, represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group, filed suit on CRL’s behalf seeking disclosure of the requested documents at no cost. After the lawsuit was filed, OMB released many responsive documents to CRL but also withheld many in full or in part. In the fall of 2020, the parties filed cross motions for summary judgment regarding certain OMB‘s withholding of certain communications related to a Paperwork Reduction Act request and withholding of documents for which it had asserted the presidential communications privilege and the deliberative process privilege.

In August, 2021, the court ordered the agency to submit the materials to the court for in camera review. OMB then decided to release the withheld records with few redactions, resolving the case.