Department of Health and Human Services

Most recent quarterly backlog

24,057

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

Latest annual report

23,281

End of FY2025 (Sept 30, 2025)

18-year change

+20%

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: 19,470

FY10: 11,612

FY12: 8,001

FY14: 9,784

FY16: 5,714

FY18: 7,666

FY20: 10,553

FY22: 13,230

FY24: 15,778

FY25: 23,281

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

24,057

Received per quarter

12,551

Processed per quarter

11,650

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	2015-01-22	2,648	10.7
#2	2015-02-13	2,632	10.6
#3	2015-04-13	2,592	10.5
#4	2015-04-16	2,589	10.5
#5	2015-06-04	2,554	10.3
#6	2015-09-02	2,491	10.1
#7	2015-09-08	2,488	10.1
#8	2015-11-09	2,475	9.9
#9	2015-12-10	2,454	9.8
#10	2016-01-04	2,411	9.7

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

256

Equivalent FTE

76.6

Total FTE

332.6

Annual report history

FY	Received	Processed	Pending end
FY2025	55,006	47,489	23,281
FY2024	51,800	49,271	15,778
FY2023	46,530	47,038	12,953
FY2022	38,462	37,241	13,230
FY2021	33,158	32,952	11,436
FY2020	36,825	35,669	10,553
FY2019	35,358	33,817	9,253
FY2018	35,445	33,876	7,666
FY2017	34,978	34,547	6,197
FY2016	34,232	36,190	5,714
FY2015	43,085	45,186	7,684
FY2014	44,283	42,293	9,784
FY2013	66,916	67,125	7,800
FY2012	68,467	69,256	8,001
FY2011	67,431	70,179	8,864
FY2010	63,839	69,860	11,612
FY2009	48,564	50,337	17,571
FY2008	58,299	66,583	19,470

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