The FOIA request backlog of the Department of Homeland Security, which receives the most requests of any federal agency, increased by 89 percent—from 25,102 requests to 47, 511— between September 30, 2022, and December 31, 2021, according to quarterly data posted on FOIA.gov. The department’s data has not yet been posted for the second quarter of fiscal year 2022 ending on March 31, 2022.
At the Department of Justice, which received the second highest number of requests in FY 2021, the request backlog climbed nearly 22 percent—from 49,959 requests o 60,877, between September 30, 2021, and March 31, 2022.
The request backlog is increasing at a slower pace at Department of Defense, the third most popular agency for requesters in FY 2021. Specifically, DOD’s request backlog increased by 6.7 percent—from 17,597 requests to 18,781—between September 30, 2021, and March 31, 2022.