Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Most recent quarterly backlog

1,237

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

Latest annual report

1,250

End of FY2025 (Sept 30, 2025)

16-year change

+819%

FY2010 → FY2025 (Oct 1, 2009 – Sept 30, 2025)

Annual backlog, FY2010–FY2025

Pending requests at end of each fiscal year (Oct 1, 2009 – Sept 30, 2025). Federal fiscal year runs Oct 1 – Sept 30, named for the year it ends.

FY10: 136

FY12: 141

FY14: 228

FY16: 322

FY18: 551

FY20: 709

FY22: 570

FY24: 801

FY25: 1,250

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

Backlog

1,237

Received per quarter

249

Processed per quarter

109

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	2014-05-07	2,821	11.4
#2	2014-05-07	2,821	11.4
#3	2014-05-07	2,821	11.4
#4	2014-06-10	2,798	11.3
#5	2014-06-16	2,794	11.3
#6	2014-06-16	2,794	11.3
#7	2014-06-16	2,794	11.3
#8	2014-06-16	2,794	11.3
#9	2014-06-23	2,789	11.3
#10	2014-06-27	2,785	11.3

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

5.3

Total FTE

14.3

Annual report history

FY	Received	Processed	Pending end
FY2025	847	398	1,250
FY2024	504	390	801
FY2023	386	269	687
FY2022	499	429	570
FY2021	441	651	499
FY2020	527	406	709
FY2019	503	464	588
FY2018	498	349	551
FY2017	456	376	402
FY2016	382	363	322
FY2015	395	321	303
FY2014	467	394	228
FY2013	388	374	155
FY2012	343	317	141
FY2011	387	405	118
FY2010	221	152	136

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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