Department of Defense

Most recent quarterly backlog

32,353

End of FY2026 Q2 (Jan 1 – Mar 31, 2026)

Latest annual report

40,606

End of FY2025 (Sept 30, 2025)

18-year change

+177%

FY2008 → FY2025 (Oct 1, 2007 – Sept 30, 2025)

Annual backlog, FY2008–FY2025

Pending requests at end of each fiscal year (Oct 1, 2007 – Sept 30, 2025). Federal fiscal year runs Oct 1 – Sept 30, named for the year it ends.

FY08: 14,660

FY10: 12,115

FY12: 9,452

FY14: 11,672

FY16: 13,681

FY18: 16,903

FY20: 22,413

FY22: 25,243

FY24: 33,852

FY25: 40,606

Dashed verticals mark presidential inaugurations.

A note on the figures. Annual and quarterly numbers don’t mean the same thing.

Annual report

Window: full fiscal year, Oct 1 through Sept 30.
Coverage: intended for every reporting agency; the current FY2025 bulk release contains 117 agency-overall reports.
Detail: received, processed, pending, exemption counts (b1–b9), ten oldest, personnel, costs.
“Pending” means: every request still open at year-end, regardless of age.
Freshness: six to nine months after fiscal year end. Latest published is FY2025.

Quarterly report

Window: three months. The latest quarter is shown in the sitewide freshness banner.
Coverage: larger agencies only. About 95 filed before the Trump 2 reporting cliff. DHS filed through FY2025 Q3, then stopped.
Detail: received, processed, backlogged. Three numbers only.
“Backlogged” means:perfected requests open more than 20 working days. Stricter than annual “pending.”
Freshness: usually about six weeks after quarter end.

Why we keep them on separate views.The two “pending” counts use different denominators, so plotting them on a single continuous timeline would misrepresent the underlying change. Within each series, comparisons are clean — quarter-over-quarter, year-over-year. Across series, only the direction of change is comparable, not the magnitude.

Recent quarterly activity

Last 22 quarters of received, processed, and backlog. Most recent: FY2026 Q2 (Jan 1 – Mar 31, 2026).

Backlog

32,353

Received per quarter

17,838

Processed per quarter

17,555

10 oldest pending requests, end of FY2025 (Sept 30, 2025)

Agencies report days pending in working days, counted from the day the request was received; the years column converts to calendar years. The longer this list runs, the more litigation-ripe the agency’s backlog.

Rank	Date received	Working days pending	Years pending
#1	2009-02-20	4,158	16.6
#2	2009-07-01	4,066	16.2
#3	2009-07-31	4,045	16.2
#4	2009-08-12	4,037	16.1
#5	2009-08-18	4,033	16.1
#6	2009-09-02	4,023	16.1
#7	2009-09-09	4,018	16.1
#8	2009-10-13	3,994	16.0
#9	2010-03-10	3,895	15.6
#10	2010-03-26	3,883	15.5

Exemption invocations, FY2025 (Oct 1, 2024 – Sept 30, 2025)

How often each FOIA exemption (b1–b9) was invoked when redacting or denying records. Exemption 5 (deliberative process, attorney-client) is highlighted — it’s the most-fought exemption in FOIA litigation.

FOIA staffing, FY2025 (Oct 1, 2024 – Sept 30, 2025)

Full-time employees

682

Equivalent FTE

263.5

Total FTE

946.4

Annual report history

FY	Received	Processed	Pending end
FY2025	77,423	70,441	40,606
FY2024	61,858	57,662	33,852
FY2023	60,109	55,731	29,735
FY2022	54,004	52,222	25,243
FY2021	52,805	50,703	24,385
FY2020	54,023	50,006	22,413
FY2019	56,524	54,545	18,665
FY2018	57,032	54,323	16,903
FY2017	55,198	53,760	14,905
FY2016	53,544	52,332	13,681
FY2015	57,498	56,507	12,695
FY2014	61,055	59,321	11,672
FY2013	68,014	67,679	9,862
FY2012	66,078	66,651	9,452
FY2011	74,117	75,648	10,224
FY2010	73,573	74,790	12,115
FY2009	67,434	68,133	13,944
FY2008	71,228	71,699	14,660

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