Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Most recent quarterly backlog

End of FY2026 Q1 (Oct 1 – Dec 31, 2025)

Latest annual report

End of FY2025 (Sept 30, 2025)

18-year change

+204%

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: 26

FY10: 16

FY12: 14

FY14: 23

FY16: 22

FY18: 48

FY20: 53

FY22: 74

FY24: 80

FY25: 79

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 19 quarters of received, processed, and backlog. Most recent: FY2026 Q1 (Oct 1 – Dec 31, 2025).

Backlog

Received per quarter

Processed per quarter

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	2019-01-04	1,682	6.7
#2	2019-01-16	1,674	6.7
#3	2019-03-29	1,624	6.5
#4	2019-10-28	1,477	5.9
#5	2020-01-29	1,416	5.7
#6	2020-09-11	1,258	5.1
#7	2021-01-11	1,178	4.7
#8	2022-11-01	726	2.9
#9	2023-01-09	681	2.7
#10	2023-01-19	674	2.7

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

Equivalent FTE

3.5

Total FTE

4.5

Annual report history

FY	Received	Processed	Pending end
FY2025	148	149	79
FY2024	130	157	80
FY2023	138	94	118
FY2022	103	84	74
FY2021	37	35	55
FY2020	73	71	53
FY2019	117	114	51
FY2018	129	111	48
FY2017	115	107	30
FY2016	93	92	22
FY2015	131	133	21
FY2014	117	109	23
FY2013	100	99	15
FY2012	74	65	14
FY2011	81	92	5
FY2010	103	114	16
FY2009	113	112	27
FY2008	111	96	26

Download raw data

Every dataset behind this page is available as CSV. Filter by agency name in your spreadsheet of choice.

← Federal Election Commission Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council →