FOIA News: DOJ releases its FY 2025 annual report

The Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy has posted the department’s long overdue annual FOIA report for fiscal year 2025. Below are the key metrics:

• 159,743 requests received, up from 132,527 in FY 2024—a 20.5% increase.

• 147,588 requests processed, down from 157,180 in FY 2024—a 6.5% decrease.

• 29,308 backlogged requests, up from 21,567 at the close of FY 2024—a 35% increase.

• 2484 appeals received and 2586 processed; appeals backlog reduced from 211 to 190.

• 18.13 average days to process all “simple” perfected requests; 246.44 average days for “complex” requests; and 49.92 average days for expedited requests.

• Fee waiver requests: 2539 granted and 1902 denied.

• Requests for expedition: 1604 granted and 5082 denied.

• Toal program costs: $118,068.573, up from $112,233,711 in FY 2024.

• Fees collected from requesters: $120,125, up from $36,016 in FY 2024.

For more comparisons, see DOJ’s FY 2024 report here.

FOIA News: Seven pressures reshaping FOIA today

The new era of FOIA: How AI, security and policy are transforming government transparency

Commentary, Benjamin Tingo, Fed. News. Network, Apr. 20, 2026

For 60 years, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has been the most powerful tool for the public to gain insight into government actions. FOIA administration has always been cumbersome for government agencies, but it is now entering a period of profound transformation, driven by technological change and greater public engagement.

The central question is whether agencies can modernize quickly enough to not only sustain current levels of responsiveness and backlog reduction mandates, but rise to meet the challenges of increased public awareness, new technologies and fewer resources.

Read more here.

FOIA News: ASAP planning FOIA training in July

The American Society of Access professional is planning a two-day training program in July in the D.C. area. See ASAP’s website posting here.

FOIA News: ICYMI, Opexus hit with class action over data breach

Government Contractor Opexus Hit with Class Action Lawsuit Over February 2025 Data Breach

By Olivia DeRicco, ClassAction.org, Mar. 16, 2026

Opexus, formerly known as AINS, has been hit with a proposed class action lawsuit alleging that the government technology contractor failed to prevent a data breach in which two former employees were able to access and delete highly sensitive government and third-party information.

The 54-page data breach lawsuit asserts that Opexus, which operates platforms for processing federal government records and claims to handle sensitive data for nearly every U.S. federal agency, failed to implement reasonable cybersecurity measures or use even the “most basic” personnel screening measures to protect confidential government and sensitive personal information from a “catastrophic” data breach.

According to the case, Opexus experienced a data breach in February 2025 when two former employees, twin brothers who had been previously prosecuted and convicted by the United States government for federal hacking and wire-fraud offenses before being hired by Opexus, used insider privileges to extract, delete and corrupt databases storing government records, including records related to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, enforcement actions, audits and investigations.

Read more here.

[Thanks to Michael Sarich, former FOIA Director at the Dep’t of Veterans Affairs, for bringing this story to our attention]

FOIA News: NARA seeks nominations for next FOIA Advisory Committee

The National Archives and Records Administration has renewed the FOIA Advisory Committee for a seventh term and is now seeking nominations for Committee members to serve from 2026 to 2028, according to a notice published today in the Federal Register. The Committee will include up to 20 members representing a wide range of sectors and expertise. Nominations must be submitted by June 1, 2026.

FOIA News: Accessing tax insights through FOIA

On the day before tax day, Lauren Loricchio of Tax Notes appeared on the latest SALT Shaker Podcast, produced by law firm Eversheds Sutherland, to explore how FOIA continues to drive transparency in tax administration, building on a legacy that dates back to a landmark 1972 lawsuit against the IRS.

FOIA News: FOIA Advisory Committee approves two recommendations

By NARA/OGIS, FOIA Ombuds, Apr. 13, 2026

FOIA Advisory Committee Votes to Approve Two Recommendations

Members of the FOIA Advisory Committee voted to approve two recommendations at their April 2, 2026, meeting. The two recommendations came from the Statutory Reform Subcommittee and are: 

• Recommendation No. 2026-01: Congress should amend FOIA to establish the FOIA Advisory Committee as a statutory federal advisory committee.

• Recommendation No. 2026-02: Congress should amend FOIA to mandate regular publication of agency FOIA logs to contain, at a minimum, 13 fields generally maintained in agency FOIA tracking systems . . . .

Read more here.

[FOIA Advisor’s Ryan Mulvey co-chairs the subcommittee that initiated these recommendations]

FOIA News: Tips for litigating against DHS during shutdown

The Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center has published a 57-page practice advisory to help FOIA litigators compel DHS agencies “to search, process, and produce records” during the appropriations lapse. See the overview here and the documents here

FOIA News: Yet another AI-powered request generator

A new request platform called FOIAflow launched today, introducing an automated approach to submitting FOIA requests. Developed by high school student Amanuel Asfaw and his brother, the web application allows users to input an investigation topic, after which the system manages filing, follow-ups, appeals, and document analysis. The platform casts itself as a direct challenge to MuckRock: “MuckRock is a 15-year-old nonprofit running on donations. They help you file. FOIAflow fights for you autonomously, relentlessly, at a fraction of the cost per record.”

FOIA News: FOIA might jeopardize homeland security, researcher warns

Research Highlights Freedom of Information Act Risks in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

By Matt Seldon, Homeland Security Today, Apr. 6, 2026

A graduate research project is raising questions about how longstanding transparency laws may be creating unintended risks for homeland security in the digital age.

In her thesis, Leaving the FOIA Window Open: Implications for U.S. Homeland Security in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, at the Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS), Melanie Simmons, a statistician at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), examines how the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) interacts with modern data and AI capabilities.

Originally designed for a paper-based environment, FOIA now operates in a landscape where large volumes of digital data can be released, aggregated, and analyzed at scale. Simmons’ research highlights how artificial intelligence can combine seemingly unrelated data points from multiple disclosures to reveal sensitive information—a concept known as the “Mosaic Theory.”

The study outlines how actors can leverage FOIA’s “blind requester” principle, which does not require individuals to disclose their intent, to submit large or strategic requests. When combined over time, these datasets can potentially be used to reconstruct law enforcement-sensitive information or identify operational patterns.

Read more here.