Department of Justice

Most recent quarterly backlog

37,052

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

Latest annual report

40,083

End of FY2025 (Sept 30, 2025)

18-year change

+536%

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: 6,302

FY10: 7,538

FY12: 8,000

FY14: 12,910

FY16: 15,462

FY18: 25,217

FY20: 36,018

FY22: 70,360

FY24: 26,919

FY25: 40,083

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

37,052

Received per quarter

31,342

Processed per quarter

32,767

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	2014-04-09	2,869	11.5
#2	2014-04-18	2,862	11.5
#3	2014-06-11	2,825	11.3
#4	2014-07-31	2,790	11.2
#5	2014-08-27	2,771	11.1
#6	2014-08-27	2,771	11.1
#7	2014-08-27	2,771	11.1
#8	2014-09-11	2,761	11.1
#9	2014-09-12	2,760	11.0
#10	2014-09-17	2,757	11.0

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

413

Equivalent FTE

140.9

Total FTE

553.9

Annual report history

FY	Received	Processed	Pending end
FY2025	159,743	147,588	40,083
FY2024	132,527	157,180	26,919
FY2023	110,934	144,065	50,238
FY2022	93,370	82,868	70,360
FY2021	97,490	75,511	58,936
FY2020	86,729	84,442	36,018
FY2019	95,119	88,668	32,773
FY2018	96,875	91,383	25,217
FY2017	82,088	79,390	18,930
FY2016	73,103	71,854	15,462
FY2015	67,783	67,825	13,560
FY2014	64,488	63,026	12,910
FY2013	70,081	68,241	10,298
FY2012	69,456	68,531	8,000
FY2011	63,103	63,992	6,897
FY2010	63,682	63,368	7,538
FY2009	61,391	60,217	7,412
FY2008	59,615	61,272	6,302

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