Department of Labor

Most recent quarterly backlog

4,068

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

Latest annual report

4,300

End of FY2025 (Sept 30, 2025)

18-year change

+292%

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: 1,097

FY10: 943

FY12: 1,475

FY14: 1,187

FY16: 1,293

FY18: 1,500

FY20: 2,589

FY22: 2,314

FY24: 3,344

FY25: 4,300

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

4,068

Received per quarter

4,169

Processed per quarter

4,153

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	2017-10-13	1,996	8.0
#2	2018-05-10	1,849	7.4
#3	2019-06-19	1,575	6.3
#4	2019-08-31	1,523	6.1
#5	2019-10-23	1,488	5.9
#6	2019-12-18	1,450	5.8
#7	2019-12-23	1,447	5.8
#8	2020-01-13	1,434	5.7
#9	2020-02-03	1,420	5.7
#10	2020-04-21	1,365	5.4

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

Equivalent FTE

69.0

Total FTE

126.0

Annual report history

FY	Received	Processed	Pending end
FY2025	17,994	17,038	4,300
FY2024	15,833	14,856	3,344
FY2023	14,282	14,219	2,388
FY2022	14,491	14,335	2,314
FY2021	13,560	14,022	2,158
FY2020	15,820	15,645	2,589
FY2019	16,090	16,350	1,729
FY2018	14,696	14,679	1,500
FY2017	15,813	15,946	1,479
FY2016	16,196	16,466	1,293
FY2015	16,792	17,104	1,303
FY2014	16,106	16,715	1,187
FY2013	18,755	19,175	1,246
FY2012	18,560	19,224	1,475
FY2011	18,012	18,129	1,143
FY2010	17,398	17,625	943
FY2009	16,726	16,810	1,065
FY2008	20,798	20,970	1,097

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