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Case docket

WP Company LLC v. U.S. Small Business Administration — D.D.C., No. 1:20-cv-01240

WP Company LLC v. U.S. Small Business Administration — D.D.C., No. 1:20-cv-01240 — 27 documents in the archive, dated May 12, 2020 to December 13, 2021.

Case facts

CourtUNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT (17 filings); U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (3 filings)
Docket numberNo. 1:20-cv-01240 — main docket · CourtListener docket 217945
Filings27 public filings
Filed2020-05-12 – 2021-12-13
Original PDFs27 of 27

Case summary

Eleven news organizations led by WP Company LLC, publisher of The Washington Post, sued the U.S. Small Business Administration under the Freedom of Information Act in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 1:20-cv-01240-JEB, for loan-level data on the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans program. On November 5, 2020 the court granted the plaintiffs summary judgment, entered judgment for them and ordered the SBA to release the names, addresses and precise loan amounts of all borrowers under both programs. It denied a stay on November 24, awarded $122,347.02 in fees and costs on January 21, 2021, and in a fifth opinion on December 13, 2021 granted the SBA summary judgment on its withholding of loan payment status and borrower tax-identification numbers under FOIA Exemptions 4 and 6.

Case at a glance

PartiesPlaintiffs: WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post, Bloomberg L.P., Dow Jones & Company, Inc., Pro Publica, Inc., The New York Times Company, American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. d/b/a ABC News, American City Business Journals, Cable News Network, Inc., NBCUniversal Media, LLC d/b/a NBC News, The Associated Press and The Center for Investigative Reporting d/b/a Reveal. Defendant: U.S. Small Business Administration. The opinions are issued jointly with Center for Public Integrity v. SBA, No. 20-1614
Court and docketU.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 1:20-cv-01240 (Judge James E. Boasberg; earlier filings are docketed -ABJ)
ProgramPaycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) program under the CARES Act
ClaimsFreedom of Information Act claims for declaratory and injunctive relief over the SBA's refusal to disclose the identities of PPP and EIDL borrowers, their precise loan amounts and other loan-level details, and later over its withholding of loan payment status, DUNS numbers and borrower tax-identification numbers
Disposition or statusSummary judgment for the plaintiffs and judgment entered November 5, 2020, with release of borrower names, addresses and precise loan amounts ordered; stay denied and the release deadline set at December 1, 2020; $122,347.02 in fees and costs awarded January 21, 2021; summary judgment for the SBA on the remaining withholdings December 13, 2021
Status checked2026-09-23 · against DOJ press releases through 2026-09-22; court docket not yet read

What did the court order the SBA to release?

The names, addresses and precise loan amounts of all individuals and entities that obtained COVID-related loans under the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans program, by November 19, 2020. After the court lifted its temporary stay and denied the agency's motion to stay, the deadline became December 1, 2020.

What did the later rounds decide?

The July 15, 2021 opinion records that after the summary-judgment ruling the SBA found additional responsive data, released much of it, and withheld loan payment status, DUNS numbers and borrower tax-identification numbers; the court found those withholdings insufficiently supported and gave the agency another chance. In the December 13, 2021 opinion the court found the SBA's showing on remand sufficient and granted it summary judgment on payment status and tax-identification numbers under Exemptions 4 and 6.

How large were the programs the data covered?

The first opinion states that the SBA processed an unprecedented $717 billion in loans via the PPP and the separate EIDL program in the months after the CARES Act was passed on March 27, 2020, and that the government initially refrained from disclosing the identities of the recipients, the specific amounts they obtained and other loan-level details.

Docket

27 documents in docket-entry order; attachments follow their entry. Gaps name the entries we do not have.

No. 1:20-cv-01240

  1. FOIA complaint — WP Co. v. SBAEntry 1
  2. The Washington Post's Expedited FOIA Request — WP Co. v. SBAEntry 1, attachment 1
  3. SBA's Response Letters to Bloomberg's Zachary Mider — Wp Co. v. SBA (D.D.C.)Entry 1, attachment 3
  4. SBA's Expedited-Processing Denials to Bloomberg's Zachary Mider — WP Co. v. SBAEntry 1, attachment 4
  5. SBA's Response to WSJ Reporter Rolfe Winkler — WP Co. v. SBAEntry 1, attachment 6
  6. —Entries 2–4 are not in the archive
  7. Amended complaint — WP Co. v. SBAEntry 5
  8. —Entries 6–8 are not in the archive
  9. SBA answer to amended complaint — Wp Co. v. SBA (D.D.C.)Entry 9
  10. —Entries 10–13 are not in the archive
  11. —Entry 14: main document not in the archive
  12. Vaughn declaration (William Manger, SBA) — WP Co. v. SBAEntry 14, attachment 1
  13. —Entries 15–17 are not in the archive
  14. —Entry 18: main document not in the archive
  15. Memorandum in support of cross-motion for summary judgment — Wp Co. v. SBA (D.D.C.)Entry 18, attachment 1
  16. Government combined reply brief — Wp Co. v. SBA (D.D.C.)Entry 19
  17. —Entry 20: main document not in the archive
  18. undatedSBA's Response to Plaintiffs' Statement of Material Facts — WP Co. v. SBAEntry 20, attachment 1
  19. Second Declaration of William Manger — WP Co. v. SBAEntry 20, attachment 2
  20. Plaintiffs' reply in support of cross-motion for summary judgment — WP Co. v. SBAEntry 21
  21. Order granting summary judgment (WP I) — WP Co. v. SBAEntry 22
  22. Memorandum opinion (WP I) — WP Co. v. SBAEntry 23
  23. SBA motion for stay pending appeal — Wp Co. v. SBA (D.D.C.)Entry 24
  24. Plaintiffs' opposition to SBA motion for stay — WP Co. v. SBAEntry 25
  25. SBA reply in support of stay pending appeal — WP Co. v. SBAEntry 26
  26. —Entry 27 is not in the archive
  27. Order denying stay and setting December 1 deadline (WP II) — WP Co. v. SBAEntry 28
  28. Memorandum opinion denying stay (WP II) — WP Co. v. SBAEntry 29
  29. —Entries 30–33 are not in the archive
  30. Order awarding attorney fees and costs — WP Co. v. SBAEntry 34
  31. Memorandum opinion on attorney fees (WP III) — WP Co. v. SBAEntry 35
  32. —Entries 36–39 are not in the archive
  33. NFIB amicus brief supporting withholding of SSNs, EINs, and loan status — Wp Co. v. SBA (D.D.C.)Entry 40
  34. —Entries 41–45 are not in the archive
  35. Plaintiffs' reply in support of supplemental cross-motion for summary judgment — WP Co. v. SBAEntry 46
  36. —Entry 47 is not in the archive; entry 48 is listed under More documents below
  37. Memorandum opinion on supplemental cross-motions (WP IV) — Wp Co. v. SBA (D.D.C.)Entry 49
  38. —Entry 50 is not in the archive
  39. SBA second supplemental motion for summary judgment — Wp Co. v. SBA (D.D.C.)Entry 51
  40. —Entries 52–55 are not in the archive; entry 56 is listed under More documents below
  41. Memorandum opinion (WP V) — WP Co. v. SBAEntry 57

More documents from this case’s dockets

3 more documents linked to this case’s dockets are in the archive and not in the docket above.

  1. Investigative ReportingMotionSBA reply brief in Washington Post v. SBA, No. 1:20-cv-01240 (D.D.C.), September 22, 2020, defending withholding of PPP loan data under FOIA exemptions.
  2. Dkt. 48: Order granting in part and denying in part Defendant's 37 Supplemental Motion for Summary
  3. Dkt. 56: Order granting 51 Motion for Summary Judgment

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Court, dates and docket numbers are as recorded on the filings.

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