Merit Systems Protection Board

Most recent quarterly backlog

175

End of FY2026 Q3 (Apr 1 – Jun 30, 2026)

Latest annual report

171

End of FY2025 (Sept 30, 2025)

18-year change

+2750%

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

FY10: 4

FY12: 0

FY14: 21

FY16: 93

FY18: 51

FY20: 55

FY22: 64

FY24: 148

FY25: 171

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 report type, comparisons are clean — quarter-over-quarter, year-over-year. Across report types, only the direction of change is comparable, not the magnitude.

Recent quarterly activity

Last 23 quarters of received, processed, and backlog. Most recent: FY2026 Q3 (Apr 1 – Jun 30, 2026).

Backlog

175

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	2018-05-25	1,833	7.4
#2	2018-07-02	1,808	7.2
#3	2019-01-02	1,684	6.7
#4	2019-03-18	1,633	6.5
#5	2020-05-05	1,348	5.4
#6	2020-11-05	1,220	4.9
#7	2020-11-06	1,219	4.9
#8	2021-01-06	1,181	4.7
#9	2021-01-08	1,179	4.7
#10	2021-05-10	1,096	4.4

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

0.7

Total FTE

2.7

Annual report history

FY	Received	Processed	Pending end
FY2025	209	186	171
FY2024	219	184	148
FY2023	221	167	118
FY2022	138	130	64
FY2021	172	171	56
FY2020	127	124	55
FY2019	117	115	52
FY2018	173	200	51
FY2017	176	190	78
FY2016	206	168	93
FY2015	165	136	50
FY2014	221	212	21
FY2013	207	202	5
FY2012	225	237	0
FY2011	121	113	12
FY2010	400	401	4
FY2009	334	335	5
FY2008	358	367	6

Download raw data

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

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