FOIA Office

What this funds

The Office of the Solicitor (SOL, Office) provides legal representation to the Secretary of the Interior (DOI, Department, Interior) and all senior DOI leadership, as well as comprehensive legal services to all Interior bureaus and offices to ensure the Department's programs and activities are conducted in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. SOL's legal representation spans the entire spectrum of the Department's broad mission, providing expertise on a host of natural resource law issues, as well as law, and appropriations law. The Office also provides legal assistance in drafting and reviewing other legal instruments, and proposed legislation. The major functions of the Office are to: 1. Provide high-quality legal counsel to the Secretary and the Department of the Interior's 2. Represent the Department in administrative hearings before various tribunals; 3. Support the Department of Justice in representing the Secretary and Interior in Federal, State, 4. Help resolve legal issues for the bureaus and offices as they implement congressional direction on appropriations and substantive legislation; 5. Administer the Department's ethics program and ensure ethical compliance throughout the 6. Provide governance over Interior's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) programs. The Solicitor is Interior's chief attorney and the Secretary's principal legal adviser. The Solicitor also serves as the immediate supervisor of the Department's Designated Agency Ethics Official and is designated as the Department's Chief FOIA Officer. The work of the Office impacts every major program within the Secretary's jurisdiction. SOL attorneys actively engage in client counseling to ensure sound decision-making, including implementing strategies that will decrease the likelihood of litigation and corrective post-litigation requirements. SOL attorneys assist the Secretary, through the Departmental bureaus and offices, in responding to congressional direction in appropriations and substantive legislation, advising the bureaus and offices on legal options for streamlining processes and improving program management, and implementing plans to carry out Departmental goals. The Office also assists all Department components in responding to requests from the Office of the Inspector General, the Office of Special Counsel, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congress, the courts, administrative tribunals, and the public. The budget request provides the Secretary and the Department the legal services needed to advance the Administration's goals and priorities. The Office's 2027 budget advances key Administration priorities in energy dominance, multiple-use land management, and critical regulatory reform by delivering the highest quality legal, ethics, and FOIA governance services. The budget supports SOL capacity to provide the most expeditious and best defense of important Administration priorities, including Executive Orders, such as Unleashing American Energy and Declaring a National Energy Emergency. By coordinating closely with Departmental client-bureaus and offices, the Office of the Solicitor will proactively manage legal work demands, prioritizing requests for attorney involvement to enhance workflow efficiency and The 2027 budget reinforces the Administration's commitment to streamlining government operations, with a strong focus on efficiency and effectiveness. The Office will support and drive efforts to optimize common administrative and support services across the Department and within the Office, ensuring that resources are utilized strategically to maximize productivity and cost savings. Also, the Office will evaluate space utilization and plan on reducing, consolidating, and optimizing office space at all The Office of the Solicitor consists of a headquarters organization in Washington, D.C., and offices in 14 locations throughout the United States. The Solicitor is the Department's chief attorney and the Secretary's principal legal adviser. The Solicitor is responsible for the legal work conducted within the Department, including all litigation brought against the Secretary, other senior leaders, and the Department's bureaus and offices. Client-representatives include the following bureaus and offices within Interior: BIA Bureau of Indian Affairs FWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service BIE Bureau of Indian Education IBC Interior Business Center BLM Bureau of Land Management NPS National Park Service BOEM Bureau of Ocean Energy OIA Office of Insular Affairs BOR Bureau of Reclamation ONRR Office of Natural Resources Revenue BSEE Bureau of Safety and OSMRE Office of Surface Mining The Washington, D.C. office is organized into the Immediate Office of the Solicitor; the Departmental Ethics Office; the Departmental FOIA Office; seven legal divisions; and an administrative division. Each legal division and the administrative division are managed by an Associate Solicitor who is directly responsible to the Solicitor and respective Deputy/Principal Deputy Solicitor. The Ethics, FOIA, and Indian Trust Litigation Offices are managed by a director directly responsible to the Solicitor and the Principal Deputy Solicitor. Regional offices are managed by a Regional Solicitor, who reports to the Principal Deputy Solicitor; field offices are managed by a Field Solicitor, who reports to a Regional Summaries of the responsibilities of the Ethics Office, FOIA Office, and Administration Division are The Immediate Office of the Solicitor includes the Solicitor, Principal Deputy Solicitor, several Deputy Solicitors, Counselors/Advisors, the Indian Trust Litigation Office, and supporting staff. The Immediate

Extracted from Office of the Solicitor, p. 23. Verbatim; nothing here is paraphrased.

Contracts funded by this line

8 linked contracts. These are obligations — lifetime awarded money — and they are not comparable to the request above and are never added to it. No total is shown: an award linked to several lines is counted in full on each, so the sum would not be a fact.

Confidence mix · 8 medium

Linked contracts are a floor, not a census. Coverage is bounded by how distinctively a program is named and, for performer links, to RDT&E and Procurement — O&M and military construction publish no performers. Budget figures are FY2027 request dollars; contract figures are obligations. The two measure different things and must never be summed together.

Ask this budget line

Answers come from the figures on this page and nothing else. These dollars are parsed from Interior's Congressional Justification and are approximate — confirm anything that matters against the cited page.