I used to have a job that relied on FOIA requests to perform my duties. Like any inter-organizational relationship it took a mix of formal requests and personal

I used to have a job that relied on FOIA requests to perform my duties. Like any inter-organizational relationship it took a mix of formal requests and personal contact to get what we needed. And the ease at which we could get our FOIAs filled depended on the gov department budget and morale. You can define policy then structurally drain departments of The resources necessary to execute that policy & their mission.