The government has been slow to act, especially in answering questions about itself. In theory, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) allows Americans to request any public record from any federal agency and receive a response within 20 days. All 50 states have similar records laws. After all, government documents are taxpayer property.
In fact, few government agencies complete their tasks on time. FOIA requests can take weeks, months, or even years longer than the legal deadlines. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies are notorious for waiting long periods of time for requests before handing back pages that have been reviewed almost entirely in black highlighter.
Using data from the public records website MuckRock, reason Average response times were calculated across multiple agencies. It turns out there are a lot of fun (and not-so-fun) things you can do while waiting for bureaucrats to deliver your tax documents.
The average only includes cases in which the agency actually managed to find documents. It does not count requests that are still pending or cases where an agency directly hid the requester.
The time it took for the Home Office to respond (477 days)you can hike the Appalachian Trail twice (and then hike it a few more times).
Within the time it takes for Customs and Border Protection to respond (410 days)you could build 112 miles of border wall.
Within the time it took for the DEA to respond. (338 days)you can grow three potted plants in a row.
Within the timeframe for the Bureau of Prisons to respond. (318 days)you can serve a sentence for a Zone C crime.
Within the time required for the Ministry of Education to respond (287 days)you can give birth to a full-term baby.
within the time it took for the Coast Guard to respond. (263 days)you can sail around the world 6.5 times with world record yachtsman Francis Joyon.
Within the time it took for UC Berkeley to respond (222 days)you can complete the spring and summer terms on campus.
Within the time it took for the New York City Mayor’s Office to respond (361 days)you could build a sixth of a mile on the Second Avenue subway extension.
Within the time it takes for the Federal Election Commission to respond (199 days)you can campaign for president from the Pennsylvania caucuses to Election Day.
