FOIA Advisor

FOIA News: Got Screwed Again?

FOIA News (2026)Allan BlutsteinComment

The deadline for agencies to post their annual reports is less than one week away (3/1/26), and we’re eagerly awaiting the numbers from FOIAs heavy lifters, e.g., DHS, DOJ, DOD, HHS, and NARA. We hope they’ll do better than the General Services Administration with respect to their request backlogs. The key figures are as follows:

  • Requests received: 2387, up from 1663 in FY 2024

  • Requests processed: 1841, up from 1632 in FY 2024

  • Backlogged requests: 945, up from 375 in FY 2024

  • For all processed perfected requests, response time of 42 average days for simple requests and 192 average days for complex requests.

  • 414 requests for expedited processing received; 64 granted; 350 denied

  • 280 fee waiver requests received; 160 granted and 120 denied

  • Personnel costs of $2,862,875 versus $43,900 fees collected for processing requests

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