Federal FOIA Backlog Rose 27% as Record Demand Hit Agencies

Federal agencies received a record 1,707,197 Freedom of Information Act requests in fiscal year 2025, but the government’s latest data also show that its backlog grew sharply as demand outpaced processing capacity.

The Justice Department’s Office of Information Policy published the government-wide summary on July 2, 2026. The underlying report is dated July 1 and covers the federal fiscal year that ended September 30, 2025—not calendar year 2025.

Agencies processed a record 1,635,055 requests, nearly 9% more than in FY 2024. But incoming requests increased faster, rising 13.7%. The number of backlogged requests reached 339,671 at the end of FY 2025, up 27% from the previous year.

Under the Justice Department’s definition, a request is backlogged when it has been pending longer than the statutory period of 20 working days, or up to 30 working days when unusual circumstances apply. The figure does not mean that every request was unanswered or that every case involved an improper delay.

What the processing total does—and does not—mean

A request listed as processed is not necessarily one in which an agency completed a substantive review and released records.

Of the 1,635,055 requests processed in FY 2025, 824,767, or 50.44%, were closed after a substantive decision to release or withhold information under FOIA. The remaining 810,290, or 49.56%, were closed for procedural or administrative reasons.

Among the 824,767 requests that received substantive decisions, 772,999, or 93.72%, resulted in a full or partial release. The other 6.28% were fully denied based on FOIA exemptions.

Those figures should not be read as a simple release rate for all requests received. They describe different stages of the process: requests received, requests closed, and requests that received a decision about whether records could be released are not interchangeable categories.

Appeals also became harder to clear

Administrative appeals are separate from lawsuits filed in federal court. They provide a way for requesters to challenge an agency’s response within the FOIA process.

Agencies received 32,059 administrative appeals in FY 2025, up 59.38% from FY 2024, and processed 23,108, a 24.4% increase. The end-of-year appeals backlog reached 11,652, up 116.5% from the previous year.

The increase suggests that pressure extended beyond initial requests. A requester disputing a delay, redaction or denial may face a second queue before a court case is even considered. The government-wide average processing time for agencies reporting appeal data was 93.76 days, although individual agency averages varied substantially.

National averages hide agency-level differences

The average processing time for simple-track requests was 48.96 days among agencies reporting data, up from 44 days in FY 2024. That figure is a government-wide average, not a deadline or a reliable prediction for every requester.

Workloads differed sharply by agency. The Department of Homeland Security accounted for about 60% of requests received government-wide and 50% of the year-end backlog. The Department of Justice, Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of War and the Department of Health and Human Services were also among the five agencies receiving the most requests.

The Justice Department reported that 58 agencies, including DHS, HUD, DOJ and State, averaged 20 days or less for simple-track requests. Other agencies reported longer averages. Timelines can also change based on the agency component, the complexity of the request, the number of records locations searched and whether another agency must be consulted.

Requesters can review agency annual reports and downloadable FOIA.gov data before filing. Agencies may also assign requests to different tracks or provide estimated completion dates.

Staffing and cost pressures

The government reported 4,823.17 full-time-equivalent FOIA staff in FY 2025. The measure includes dedicated FOIA professionals and cumulative portions of other employees’ time spent handling FOIA work.

Estimated FOIA-related costs totaled $661.4 million. Agencies reported collecting about $2.5 million in FOIA fees, equal to approximately 0.38% of estimated costs. The difference reflects the broader work involved in searching, reviewing, consulting, redacting and releasing records, as well as handling litigation-related activities.

The National Archives’ Office of Government Information Services found that full-time FOIA staff declined 16% between FY 2024 and FY 2025 across 15 Cabinet-level departments and 10 independent agencies, while backlogs at those agencies increased 27%. That comparison provides workforce context, but it does not by itself establish that staffing reductions caused any particular delay or explain conditions at every federal agency.

The Government Accountability Office has separately described federal information quality, accessibility and transparency as issues tied to oversight, program management, fraud prevention and public trust. That broader accountability perspective helps explain why FOIA performance matters beyond the individual requester waiting for records.

What to watch next

The next indicators will include agency backlog-reduction plans, staffing and technology changes, proactive disclosures and the way agencies report estimated completion dates and appeals.

A FOIA Advisory Committee approved seven recommendations in June, including proposals involving staffing, technology, backlog management and possible statutory changes. The recommendations are advisory. They have not become congressional legislation or binding requirements across federal agencies.

For requesters, the practical lesson is to check the specific agency’s annual report and current FOIA data rather than rely on the national average. The FY 2025 numbers document rising demand and capacity pressure across the federal system, but they do not by themselves explain why an individual request was delayed, closed administratively or withheld.

Sources

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