Use this button to switch between dark and light mode.

Experience a New Era in Legal Research with Free Access to Lexis+

Maloney v. Murphy

Maloney v. Murphy

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

October 22, 2019, Argued; December 29, 2020, Decided

No. 18-5305

Opinion

 [**265]   [*54]  ] Millett, Circuit Judge: Federal law expressly authorizes seven or more members (less than a majority) of the House of Representatives' Committee on Oversight and Reform to request and to receive information from government agencies as relevant to the performance of their Committee duties. See 5 U.S.C. § 2954. In 2017, the Ranking Member of the Committee and seven other members sent such a request to the General Services Administration seeking information related to property owned by the United States government. The agency refused to comply.

The sole question before the [***2]  court is whether the members who requested agency information under Section 2954 have standing under Article III to enforce their statutorily conferred right to information. We hold that they do. Informational injuries have long satisfied the injury requirement of Article III. ] A rebuffed request for information to which the requester is statutorily entitled is a concrete, particularized, and individualized personal injury, within the meaning of Article III. That traditional form of injury is quite distinct from the non-cognizable, generalized injuries claimed by legislators that are tied broadly to the law-making process and that affect all legislators equally. ] And nothing in Article III erects a categorical bar against legislators suing to enforce statutorily created informational rights against federal agencies, whether under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, or under Section 2954. Because the plaintiffs have standing, we reverse the district court's dismissal of the case and remand for further proceedings.

Under Section 2954 of Title 5, committee members on the House and Senate committees dedicated to governmental oversight may request and receive information from federal agencies that pertains to those members' [***3]  committee work. Section 2954 provides in full:

Read The Full CaseNot a Lexis Advance subscriber? Try it out for free.

Full case includes Shepard's, Headnotes, Legal Analytics from Lex Machina, and more.

984 F.3d 50 *; 450 U.S. App. D.C. 261 **; 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 40547 ***

CAROLYN MALONEY, ET AL., APPELLANTS v. EMILY W.MURPHY, ADMINISTRATOR, GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION, APPELLEE

Prior History:  [***1] Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. (No. 1:17-cv-02308).

CORE TERMS

Requesters, particularized, oversight, seat, lease, personal injury, injuries, member of congress, committee member, concrete, deprivation, powers, elected, subpoena, federal agency, salary, cases, individual legislator, district court, statutorily, purposes, invoke, request information, individual member, documents, redress, harmed, request for information, legislative power, federal court

Governments, Federal Government, US Congress, Administrative Law, Freedom of Information, Methods of Disclosure, Record Requests, Constitutional Law, Case or Controversy, Standing, Elements, Claims By & Against, Civil Procedure, Discovery & Disclosure, Discovery, Subpoenas, Appeals, Standards of Review, De Novo Review, Preliminary Considerations, Justiciability, Standing, Injury in Fact, Political Questions, Separation of Powers, The Judiciary, Political Questions, Judicial Review, Reviewability, Particular Parties, Legislation, Interpretation, State & Territorial Governments, Legislatures, Courts, Authority to Adjudicate, Evidence, Relevance, Relevant Evidence