request is, we’ll assume, a “joke” request and not an actual, tangible request (based on her "student loans" comment, which I get into below), and kind of grind my gears. These ‘joke requests’ take away from the hundreds of thousands of actual, legitimate requests the government receives every year, and make GIS employees look horrible in response times because we have to respond to requests that aren’t really “legitimate needs”. However, with the viewpoint of "this is an actual request", let's examine it further: For starters, an government employee of the Executive Branch (which includes employees besides those just working in the Oval Office) cannot keep a gift if it is because of their public position or if they do business with the organization (e.g.: no kickbacks on student loans if you work for/at the Department of Education). However, if it's a gift based on outside business or employment relationships and not enhanced due to your official position, then you can accept the gift, specifically section (b). This is where the 'gift' looks questionable - can POTUS confirm he & HBO producers were friends prior to GoT? And was it due to his office that he received the gift, or were they personal friends? As a whole, Agencies and Departments subject to the FOIA have 20 business days to respond to the request: it appears the reporter filed the request on Thursday, April 14, she should anticipate a response by Thursday, May 19. That 30 days is if WH doesn't contact the reporter for clarification for the request (if POTUS has received previous seasons' screeners, for example - is the reporter also asking for those?); or if the WH/OM asks for an extension of time due to extenuating circumstances (which aren't that clearly defined - can be as simple as 'hey, need to contact regional office staff'); or (and this is highly likely in this case), the reporter didn't file the request properly. It appears from her routing number (GSA-2016-000633) that she filed the request with the General Services Agency. GSA /= WH/OM, so it's likely GSA will close her request with a "you didn't send this to the correct agency." I'm looking over the White House Privacy Policies & Administration subsites and have noticed it's difficult to see where one could submit a FOIA request, however (check most government websites and there is a "FOIA" link at the bottom of most of their home pages). On the White House page, I was able to find it after I typed in "submit a FOIA request"., and even then it's a "submit your comments and questions online" form. As an aside, the Department of the Interior's Ethics Office has a great section on their website regarding gifts.; and of course if governmentish is up your alley, here is the Code of Federal Regulations on Executive Office Gifts Furthermore, I've now read the original article and request and have a couple of points regarding the reporters' request. She didn't actually state that she is looking for documentation/tangibles that the government/POTUS possesses (e.g.: stating "I want POTUS to share his advance screeners for GoT with the public" vs. "I want POTUS to share the video files he has for GoT season 6". There is a huuuuuge difference there in regards to a clear request, and WH will see it/pounce on that.) Also, reporters (and the media) get responses to FOIA requests for free, usually (obviously, some exceptions may apply). Telling the FOIA Coordinator "they can put it on my student loan tab" is ridiculous and personally, I feel, rude and a slap in the face to the process. There is no way a FOIA Coordinator at WH/OM can: See she is owing the government student loans (there is a whole host of privacy issues there and would lead to the FOIA Coordinator being fired if they even tried to look up the reporters' student loan data); and it's just kind of unprofessional. Do a little research before you submit a FOIA request; not only will you get a better understanding of the process, but you’ll likely be able to submit a clear, concise request that will help GIS find what you are looking for, faster. GIS employees are usually subject-knowledgeable about FOIA & Privacy Act issues, not on where a specific memo or contract would be stored. The more detail and information you can give us on your end (e.g.: email between President Obama and Vice President Biden on April 17, 2016 regarding the Chicago Cubs – disclaimer, totally made this example up; have no clue if an email exists!) can help a FOIA specialist and you in the long run! I hope this helps; as I stated earlier, my background is in documentation, not gifts. It will be interesting to see if there is any backlash, or how WH responds to this request. If there are any other questions, I'll try to answer them! EDIT: Oh my goodness, r/bestof! Thanks guys! EDIT 2: Gold! Thank you anonymous redditor! permalinkembedsaveparentreportgive goldreply [–]theghostinwinterfell You have to remember your name 132 points 23 hours ago I'll bet she didn't even really think about the people behind the scenes who deal with this type of stuff, or the technicalities. She figured she'd send the gag request and stick it to "Big Government". People like her don't comprehend that "Big Government" is usually a staff of underappreciated average people whose job is made doubly difficult by departmental and budgetary restrictions (since everything in government must be done technically correct down to the letter thanks to its public nature, and since the public always wants costs down), and by people like herself doing shit like this. (from the tone of this comment you might think I work in government- I don't, but get frustrated to see this shit) permalinkembedsaveparentreportgive goldreply [–]nearstarlet 103 points 22 hours ago* I... I want to hug you for this comment. Seriously, you just described the average government employee: we usually get shit on because 'government', but our hands are so incredibly tied. I guess just know you made this gals day, internet stranger :) edit: Gilded! Thank you so very much! permalinkembedsaveparentreportgive goldreply [–]huphelmeyer [+1]Icy Dead People 22 points 21 hours ago I always assumed the average government employee spent their days like this. permalinkembedsaveparentreportgive goldreply [–]splice_of_life 7 points 12 hours ago I'm a government employee, and yes, it's just like that, except each canister takes between 20 minutes and 16 hours to examine and process fully, and it could potentially take months to discover or fix a mistake if one is made. permalinkembedsaveparentreportgive goldreply [–]_JonJon 4 points 15 hours ago Hey, are you redditing during work hours? /s permalinkembedsaveparentreportgive goldreply [–]Dhalphir 3 points 14 hours ago People do the same thing with "Corporations". Corporations and governments are not people. They are made up of people, and they are made up of mostly good people, just like the wider population is mostly good people. permalinkembedsaveparentreportgive goldreply [–]near_starlet 10 points 14 hours ago* Also - just realized I overlooked both your 'gift vs. information' comment and your NARA comment. This is likely categorized as a gift, not as information. Also, in regards to NARA, I hate to be so unclear, but it honestly depends. A quick search of NARA and "presidential gifts", gave me the following link; based on that information, it may be likely referenced in President Obama's future Presidential Library, but it's likely to not be as prevalent in his list of gifts as others he's received. permalinkembedsaveparentreportgive goldreply [–]facelessmaester 9 points 21 hours ago President is free to accept gifts from the public, as long as they are not solicited. https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42662.pdf permalinkembedsaveparentreportgive goldreply [–]hazmatika 3 points 14 hours ago Yes and if you read OP, Mr. Weiss says Mr. Obama asked for the gift. permalinkembedsaveparentreportgive goldreply [–]near_starlet 3 points 13 hours ago which means he solicited a gift. Red flag there! permalinkembedsaveparentreportgive goldreply [–]megafly [score hidden] 11 hours ago If they classify it as "art" though, they should be fine. Folks loan art to the Whitehouse all the time. permalinkembedsaveparentreportgive goldreply [–]echo_61 5 points 16 hours ago Does FOIA not have an exemption for trade secrets of a 3rd party? permalinkembedsaveparentreportgive goldreply [–]Pudgy_Ninja 5 points 16 hours ago It does. Any time that we product trade secret documents to the SEC or DOJ, we include a request to the FOIA office to keep them confidential, in the event of a FOIA request. permalinkembedsaveparentreportgive goldreply [–]near_starlet 5 points 13 hours ago However, just slapping a disclaimer ("personal and confidential" comes to mind), does not automatically mean keeping confidential. With the 2008 memorandum, government is supposed to operate with a mentality of openness and transparency; meaning unless explicitly falling under the 9 exemptions, it will be released. I would hope that you had received an Executive Order 12600 notice if your documents were ever requested, but at my previous agency, we would ask commercial submitters (e.g.: vendors) to submit a redacted copy of all documents, including contracts. I would advise you to do the same (or practice reverse FOIA if necessary) if your documents are ever requested. permalinkembedsave