The federal government faced unprecedented challenges in responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests in fiscal year 2025, processing a record 1.6 million inquiries but falling significantly short in timely and full disclosures, according to recently released government data. The surge in demand, combined with a growing backlog and declining transparency, has raised concerns about agencies’ compliance with the nation’s premier transparency law.
The backlog of unresolved requests reached nearly 340,000 by September 30, 2025, with an average wait time exceeding 240 days—a stark contrast to the 20-day response deadline mandated by law. Despite handling the highest volume of FOIA requests since comprehensive records began 16 years ago, federal agencies released the requested documents in full or in part only 47 percent of the time, marking the lowest approval rate on record since at least 2010.
Experts and agency officials attribute the surge in requests to several factors, including the widespread use of artificial intelligence tools simplifying request drafting, a high volume of submissions from conservative think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation, and increased record demands from immigrants and legal representatives amid heightened deportation efforts. The Heritage Foundation alone submitted over 100,000 requests since 2022, many focusing on topics like voting, diversity and equity programs, and climate issues.
Observers note that the problem has intensified during President Trump’s second term, citing both his administration’s ambitious policy agenda and significant reductions in FOIA staffing as contributing factors. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) acknowledged a sharp drop in records granted—from 31 percent the previous year to just 8 percent in 2025—and attributed the spike in requests and agency performance issues to what it labeled “left activists groups” and “Trump derangement syndrome.” OMB’s communications director stated that prioritization shifted toward hiring Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers instead of FOIA processors.
The Department of Justice, which oversees FOIA compliance, confirmed that 2025’s request volume was unprecedented and doubled from 2021. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for 60 percent of all requests, defended its record transparency, despite cutting over 30 percent of its FOIA workforce and seeing a fourfold increase in backlog appeals. On average, a single FOIA staff member at DHS handled 2,207 requests in 2025—the highest workload recorded since at least 2008.
Other agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, denied claims that the administration undermined the FOIA process, highlighting the surge of inquiries they handled. However, watchdog groups and former FOIA officials expressed concern over a declining trend in fully unredacted document releases, which dropped to about 9 percent in 2025 from 22 percent a decade earlier. This trend, they warned, may suggest improper redactions beyond the law’s exemptions related to national security, privacy, or law enforcement.
The Trump administration also faced criticism for moves perceived as limiting public access. In 2025, DHS revealed it stopped retaining text messages from senior officials, abandoning automated capture software and relying instead on manual screenshots. The White House pursued a controversial legal argument seeking to exempt President Trump’s records from future FOIA requests by challenging the constitutionality of the Presidential Records Act of 1978, a statute established after Watergate requiring presidential documents to be preserved and made available five years after a president leaves office.
FOIA officials report that agency delays have increased due to more frequent and sometimes unwarranted requests for clarification, which pause the statutory response clock. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency initially deemed a FOIA request for a single email too broad, later agreeing to process it after pushback.
Staff cuts beginning early in Trump’s second term and actions by entities like the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, contributed to a 14 percent reduction in the FOIA workforce since 2017, despite a doubling of requests. Some officials faced reprisals after releasing sensitive information; two FOIA staff members at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence were reportedly dismissed following the disclosure of a declassified report that contradicted claims made by President Trump.
Advocates for transparency argue that the government has increasingly employed delay tactics to slow the processing of FOIA requests, undermining the statute’s purpose. Legal challenges related to FOIA frequently stretch over months, complicated by government motions seeking extended deadlines and the removal of evidence about the public interest from court records.
The impact of these delays is illustrated in individual cases, such as that of Gaston D’Agrivieri, who sought to use FOIA to obtain Education Department documents to support his eligibility for loan forgiveness after his for-profit college closed amid fraud allegations. More than a year after the request, he has yet to receive the records and continues to accrue debt due to delayed resolution.
As federal agencies contend with record request volumes and staffing constraints, the future of government transparency under FOIA remains uncertain, with both Democratic and Republican administrations facing significant hurdles in meeting statutory deadlines and providing full access to public records.