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It's a lot less transparent than Candidate Obama promised when he first ran in 2008 and repeatedly pledged to have the most transparent administration in history.Below are comments from experienced attorneys who have careers dealing with requests involving the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA):“Obama is the sixth administration that’s been in office since I’ve been doing Freedom of Information Act work. … It’s kind of shocking to me to say this, but of the six, this administration is the worst on FOIA issues. The worst. There’s just no question about it,” said Katherine Meyer, a Washington lawyer who’s been filing FOIA cases since 1978. “This administration is raising one barrier after another. … It’s gotten to the point where I’m stunned — I’m really stunned.”David Sobel, senior counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said that “despite the positive rhetoric that has come from the White House and the attorney general, that guidance has not been translated into real world results in actual cases. … Basically, the reviews are terrible.”"Last month, several frequent FOIA requesters filed a class-action lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency, alleging that it unlawfully impedes requesters by requiring them to agree to pay all fees without providing any cost estimate, by imposing new fees for declassification and by refusing to release records in electronic form."'"Also in February, five nonprofit groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, asserted that the Department of Homeland Security was demanding thousands of dollars in “exorbitant fees” to process FOIA requests, even though the groups regularly obtained waivers in the past."Read more: President Obama's muddy transparency record - Josh Gerstein

I imagine the policy would change, depending on which agency you were making the request to, but, on the whole: I doubt it.Your “need” to have the information immediately is probably not a big priority for whoever or whatever section handles FOIA requests. I read a few days ago that the FBI processes FOIA requests in the order received, and that if a document is requested three or more times, it’s placed in the “electronic reading room” so that anyone can call it up at will. So, if you field an FOIA requests today, I imagine it would take its place in line behind all the others filed before it.Further, government agencies are mad for paperwork. If you want something from them, they’re going to want you to fill out a form. A phone call isn’t going to get it.Now, at a small agency that doesn’t have a big backlog of requests, you might get something more or less immediately. At the police department where I worked, there was a records clerk detailed to the customer counter on weekdays from 0800–1600. If you wanted a copy of a report, most days you could walk in, provide the case number, pay the fee, and walk out with it within a few minutes. This was because all the case reports were located in a single room, either in hard copy or on microfilm. Today, I expect that older reports (like from my day, over 20 years ago) are still on microfilm, and those will take longer. However, even at my old department, you weren’t going to get a report copy with a phone call.

I was able to attend a discussion this weekend between Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and their friendship and respect for each other is so genuine and touching. While I knew of Clinton’s friendship with the Bushes—which started with George P. Bush, who Clinton frequently, privately consulted upon throughout his terms—the development of the friendship between GWB and Clinton took a little longer to develop.In the discussion, both men said that their respect for each other was deeply rooted in the respect they had for the office—a position which is larger then the person who occupies it. They also mentioned that their respect for continuity and stability, that there can only be “one president at a time.” Being the toughest job in the world, they added that they would not criticize anyone in the office as they know how difficult and complex the decisions and ramifications can be.I cannot imagine trump showing any respect towards anyone—or holding his tongue or tweets—so he is already at a disadvantage. He shows no respect for the office, civil servants, our military, our judicial system, our rule of law, our allies, our protocol, etc., etc. It remains to be seen whether he will have a Presidential Library, or in what form, besides a propaganda-temple and massive gift shop. It is unknown how much, if any, of the records will survive this administration (trump has regularly destroyed documents, even in the face of court-orders to preserve them; has limited the number of aides on his phone calls and transcriptions; conducts business mainly verbally; and has closed access to FOIA requests as well as to White House visitor log books—to name a few we know of) and it is nearly certain that they will not hand over any electronic records.So, yes, as a matter of protocol, he will be invited by the organizing entity to official events, but I doubt any of the presidential foundations will extend invitation for charitable outreach events. The Clinton Global Initiative, which I have direct experience with, connects donors with “boots on the ground” organizations (and no, the funds are never touched by the CGI). President Bush’s foundations organizes hands-on events with wounded soldiers, including counseling, fundraising, and events to increase physical strength like mountain bike rides with the President. GWB dedicates huge amounts of time interacting personally with vets—most of the time without cameras or any press coverage.When he is gone from the office, it is unlikely that trump will participate in any part—unless, of course, it is focused solely on him.