Data through Jun 30, 2026 · updated Aug 19, 2026

Investigating the federal FOIA backlog

0

pending federal FOIA requests as of September 30, 2025

Government-wide, 117 agencies · FY2025 annual reports · FOIA.gov

* Annual reports are the fullest count FOIA.gov publishes, but they run on a long lag: FY2025 covers Oct 1, 2024 – Sept 30, 2025 and was published June 9, 2026. For what has happened since, see the quarterly reports below.

+18.7% from FY2024 and the highest total in 18 years of reports. Requests still open at the end of the fiscal year, across every agency that filed an annual report. The quarterly reports filed since then, covering the 10 largest agencies still reporting, show their backlog at a new high as of June 30, 2026. See the quarterly reports.

Latest findings

What the newest annual reports show

FY2025 covers Oct 1, 2024 – Sept 30, 2025. One report per agency per year, with staffing, exemptions, and the oldest open requests. Every figure here comes from the same bulk release as the number above.

Inspect the source data
Government-wide received
1,707,197

New requests filed in FY2025, +13.7% from FY2024 — the most in 18 years of reports. The bulk release contains agency-overall reports from 117 agencies.

See the annual ranking →
Homeland Security received
1,019,496

The first agency in 18 years of reports to cross one million requests in a fiscal year. Its reported FOIA staffing fell 30.5% from FY2024.

Explore DHS →
Veterans Affairs staffing
-36.0%

Reported FOIA staffing fell from 367.4 to 235.2 FTE while pending requests rose +86.2%.

Explore Veterans Affairs →

Source: FOIA.gov bulk Annual Report CSVs. FY2025 was published June 9, 2026. Retrieved July 16, 2026. Comparisons use agency-overall rows from the same annual source; they show what changed together, not what caused the change. FY2025 totals remain partial because not every expected agency had filed.

Since then

The pile, over time

Quarterly reports are narrower but fresher: they count only requests past the statutory deadline, and only at agencies that still file. This chart follows the 10 largest agencies that have filed every quarter since FY2021.

0

backlogged requests at the 10 largest stable-filing agencies as of June 30, 2026

FY2026 Q3 · FOIA.gov quarterly reports

* This is the newest quarter agencies have filed. New data lands on a lag — quarterly reports arrive roughly six weeks after a quarter closes, so FY2026 Q4 (Jul 1 – Sep 30, 2026) is expected around mid-November 2026.

The highest quarterly backlog since FY2021, where this chart begins — a reversal of the Biden-era catch-up that had drawn the pile back near its FY2021 starting level. Another 15 agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, last filed a quarterly report covering a period between April and December 2025 and have not filed since.

The pile climbed through Biden’s first half, dropped back near its FY2021 starting level by mid-2024 as agencies caught up, then climbed to a new high under the Trump administration.
BidenTrump025.0k50.0k75.0k100k125klow: 76.1kFY2024 Q2129,104backloggedFY2026 Q3FY2021Oct 20FY2022Oct 21FY2023Oct 22FY2024Oct 23FY2025Oct 24FY2026Oct 25Backlogged FOIA requests, end of quarter
Sum of backlogged FOIA requests across 10 agencies (DOJ, DoD, HHS, DOT, EEOC, Labor, SEC, Interior, EPA, Education) — every one filed every quarter from FY2021 Q1 through FY2026 Q3.

Source: FOIA.gov Quarterly Report API. Retrieved August 19, 2026. DHS stopped filing after FY2025 Q3. Download data (CSV)

Which agencies moved

Per-agency change in FOIA backlog from the last full quarter before Trump took office to today.

Each line is one agency from Oct–Dec 2024 (the last full quarter before Trump) to Apr–Jun 2026 (the most recent published quarter). Lines slanting up mean the pile grew; down means the agency caught up.

Each row shows one agency’s pending FOIA backlog at the close of Oct–Dec 2024 (top bar, FY2025 Q1) versus the close of Apr–Jun 2026 (bottom bar, FY2026 Q3). Tap any agency for its full history.

  1. 01Department of Justice
    +65.5%
    Oct–Dec 2024
    22,499
    Apr–Jun 2026
    37,231
  2. 02Department of Defense
    +72.9%
    Oct–Dec 2024
    18,797
    Apr–Jun 2026
    32,495
  3. 03U.S. Department of State
    +47.9%
    Oct–Dec 2024
    23,095
    Apr–Jun 2026
    34,169
  4. 04Department of Health and Human Services
    +68.6%
    Oct–Dec 2024
    15,960
    Apr–Jun 2026
    26,912
  5. 05Department of Transportation
    +42.0%
    Oct–Dec 2024
    9,962
    Apr–Jun 2026
    14,149
  6. 06Department of Labor
    +59.6%
    Oct–Dec 2024
    2,637
    Apr–Jun 2026
    4,209
  7. 07Department of the Interior
    +30.2%
    Oct–Dec 2024
    4,760
    Apr–Jun 2026
    6,199
  8. 08Department of Education
    +29.0%
    Oct–Dec 2024
    4,066
    Apr–Jun 2026
    5,247
  9. 09Department of Energy
    +39.7%
    Oct–Dec 2024
    2,498
    Apr–Jun 2026
    3,490
  10. 10Social Security Administration
    +51.5%
    Oct–Dec 2024
    1,564
    Apr–Jun 2026
    2,369

Showing top 10 of 98 reporting agencies.

Source: FOIA.gov Quarterly Report API. Retrieved August 19, 2026. Download chart data (CSV)

Trajectories, agency by agency

Five years of quarterly backlog data for each of the 10 largest filers, side by side.

One panel per agency, FY2021 Q1 (Oct 1 – Dec 31, 2020) through FY2026 Q3. The percentage on each panel is the change from the first quarter to the most recent. Click an agency for its full history.
Department of Justice+7%
37,231backlog,
FY2026 Q3
Oct 1 – Dec 31Apr 1 – Jun 30
U.S. Department of State+127%
34,169backlog,
FY2026 Q3
Oct 1 – Dec 31Apr 1 – Jun 30
Department of Defense+86%
32,495backlog,
FY2026 Q3
Oct 1 – Dec 31Apr 1 – Jun 30
Department of Health and Human Services+168%
26,912backlog,
FY2026 Q3
Oct 1 – Dec 31Apr 1 – Jun 30
Department of Transportation+205%
14,149backlog,
FY2026 Q3
Oct 1 – Dec 31Apr 1 – Jun 30
Department of the Interior+45%
6,199backlog,
FY2026 Q3
Oct 1 – Dec 31Apr 1 – Jun 30
Department of Education+471%
5,247backlog,
FY2026 Q3
Oct 1 – Dec 31Apr 1 – Jun 30
Department of Labor+175%
4,209backlog,
FY2026 Q3
Oct 1 – Dec 31Apr 1 – Jun 30
Department of Agriculture+36%
3,792backlog,
FY2026 Q3
Oct 1 – Dec 31Apr 1 – Jun 30
Department of the Treasury+38%
3,526backlog,
FY2026 Q3
Jan 1 – Mar 31Apr 1 – Jun 30
Biden (through Jan 19, 2025)Trump (from Jan 20, 2025)Inauguration, Jan 20, 2025Each panel scaled to its own range. Window: FY2021 Q1 – FY2026 Q3.

Source: FOIA.gov Quarterly Report API. Retrieved August 19, 2026. Each panel uses its own y-scale so the shape reads at a glance; the number above the line carries the comparison. For history before FY2021 see the the agency directory.

Why the pile is growing

Requests are coming in faster than agencies are closing them.

Top 12 agencies by request volume during the Trump administration (FY2025 Q1 onward), with cumulative received vs. cumulative processed. Dark = received, green = processed. The “closed/received” column is that ratio — anything below 100% means the queue grew.

Closed / received = processed ÷ received across FY2025 Q1 through the most recent quarter. 100% means the agency closed exactly as many as it received. Below 100% means the queue grew. Above 100% means it’s closing old requests faster than new ones arrive.

Of the 12 highest-volume agencies on the list, 12 closed fewer requests than they received over that stretch. The widest gap was at Department of Health and Human Services, which processed 78% of what came in.

Source: FOIA.gov Quarterly Report API, FY2025 Q1 through Apr–Jun 2026. Retrieved August 19, 2026. Download underlying quarterly CSV

Further reading. The reporting underneath this dashboard.