Department of Transportation

Most recent quarterly backlog

13,909

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

Latest annual report

13,375

End of FY2025 (Sept 30, 2025)

18-year change

+645%

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: 1,795

FY10: 1,702

FY12: 1,479

FY14: 2,536

FY16: 4,927

FY18: 4,426

FY20: 5,567

FY22: 6,669

FY24: 9,841

FY25: 13,375

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

13,909

Received per quarter

5,133

Processed per quarter

3,610

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	2015-04-22	2,618	10.4
#2	2015-11-16	2,475	9.9
#3	2015-12-01	2,465	9.8
#4	2016-01-07	2,440	9.7
#5	2016-01-13	2,436	9.7
#6	2016-01-21	2,431	9.7
#7	2016-01-21	2,431	9.7
#8	2016-01-26	2,428	9.7
#9	2016-02-18	2,412	9.6
#10	2016-04-01	2,381	9.5

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

Equivalent FTE

79.2

Total FTE

137.2

Annual report history

FY	Received	Processed	Pending end
FY2025	20,475	16,941	13,375
FY2024	18,345	16,080	9,841
FY2023	17,136	16,458	7,335
FY2022	19,090	18,958	6,669
FY2021	15,740	14,754	6,558
FY2020	14,632	15,433	5,567
FY2019	16,571	14,621	6,313
FY2018	15,049	16,082	4,426
FY2017	15,164	14,539	5,502
FY2016	13,800	11,929	4,927
FY2015	13,374	12,681	3,182
FY2014	12,012	11,213	2,536
FY2013	10,552	10,235	1,766
FY2012	10,946	10,988	1,479
FY2011	12,064	12,092	1,612
FY2010	10,363	10,121	1,702
FY2009	9,018	9,282	1,487
FY2008	9,958	10,402	1,795

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