United States Government Accountability Office

GAO Testimony before the Subcommittee on 

Government Management, Finance, and 

Accountability, Committee on 

Government Reform, House of 

Representatives 

FREEDOM OF 

INFORMATION ACT 

For Release on Delivery 

Expected at 2:00 p.m. EDT

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Preliminary Analysis of 

Processing Trends Shows 

Importance of 

Improvement Plans 

Statement of Linda D. Koontz 

Director, Information Management Issues 

GAO-06-1022T 
What GAO Found

United States Government Accountability Office

Why GAO Did This Study

Highlights

Accountability Integrity Reliability

July 26, 2006

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT

Preliminary Analysis of Processing 

Trends Shows Importance of 

Improvement Plans 

Highlights of GAO-06-1022T, a testimony 

before the Subcommittee on Government 

Management, Finance, and Accountability,

Committee on Government Reform, 

House of Representatives 

The Freedom of Information Act 

(FOIA) establishes that federal 

agencies must provide the public

with access to government 

information, thus enabling them to

learn about government operations

and decisions. To help ensure 

appropriate implementation, the 

act requires that agencies report 

annually to the Attorney General, 

providing specific information 

about their FOIA operations. In 

addition, a recent Executive Order 

directs agencies to develop plans to

improve their FOIA operations, 

including, among other things,

goals to reduce backlogs in FOIA 

requests. 

GAO has reported previously on 

the contents of these annual

reports for 25 major agencies. For 

this hearing, GAO was asked to 

testify both on the annual reports 

for fiscal year 2005 and on the 

recently developed improvement 

plans for these 25 agencies. GAO 

based its testimony on its ongoing 

work on these topics. Upon

completion of its ongoing review, 

GAO expects to make

recommendations to improve 

agency implementation of the 

Executive Order, including efforts 

to reduce and eliminate backlog.

According to data reported by agencies in their annual reports, the public 

continues to request and receive increasing amounts of information from the 

federal government through FOIA; however, excepting one case—the Social

Security Administration (SSA)—the rate of increase has flattened in recent 

years. (SSA reported an additional 16 million requests in 2005, dwarfing 

those for all other agencies combined, which together total about 2.6 million; 

SSA attributed this rise to an improvement in its method of counting 

requests. However, Justice officials have suggested that SSA consider 

treating the bulk of these requests as non-FOIA requests and thus not 

include them in future reports.) When SSA’s numbers are excluded, data 

reported by the other 24 major agencies show that the number of requests 

received increased by 27 percent from fiscal year 2002 to 2005, but by only 

about 2.5 percent from fiscal year 2004. As more requests come in, agencies 

also report that they have been processing more of them—25 percent more 

from 2002 to 2005 (but only about 2.0 percent more than from 2004). Despite 

processing more requests, agencies have not kept up with the increase in 

requests being made: the number of pending requests carried over from year

to year has been steadily increasing, rising to about 200,000 in fiscal year 

2005—43 percent more than in 2002. The rate of increase in requests pending

is also growing: the increase from fiscal year 2004 to 2005 is 24 percent, 

compared to 11 percent from 2003 to 2004. 

Most of the agency improvement plans discussed reducing backlog, but not 

all consistently followed the Executive Order or implementing guidance 

provided by the Justice Department. Of the 25 agencies, 3 had not posted 

their plans in time to be included in this testimony, and 1 reported no 

backlog. Of the remaining 21 agencies, 12 followed the Executive Order’s 

instruction to establish measurable, outcome-oriented objectives for 

reducing or eliminating their backlogs, as well as timetables with milestones 

for meeting these objectives. Nine agencies did not do this, although they 

accounted for a substantial fraction—about 29 percent—of the requests 

reported to be pending at the end of fiscal year 2005. (Most agencies did 

provide goals and timetables for other kinds of objectives, however, such as

performing staffing analyses and reviewing progress.) In addition, agencies 

generally did not specify the dates or numbers they were using as the 

baselines for their existing backlogs, which will be important for measuring 

improvement. GAO’s ongoing work suggests that factors contributing to 

these deficiencies include difficulties in coordinating responses among 

components in large, decentralized agencies and limitations in the systems 

that track FOIA processing. In addition, neither the Executive Order nor 

Justice guidance established a baseline date for measuring the backlog or 

directed agencies to establish such a date. Without clearly defined baselines, 

specific objectives, and timetables for reducing backlog, it could be 

challenging for agency heads, Justice, and the Congress to gauge progress in 

improving FOIA processes as intended by the Executive Order. 

www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-1022T.

To view the full product, including the scope 

and methodology, click on the link above. 

For more information, contact Linda Koontz at

(202) 512-6240 or koontzl@gao.gov. 
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: 

I appreciate the opportunity to participate in the Subcommittee’s 

hearing on the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 

(FOIA).1

 Generally speaking, FOIA establishes that federal agencies 

must provide the public with access to government information, 

thus enabling them to learn about government operations and 

decisions. Specific requests by the public for information through 

the act have led to disclosure of waste, fraud, abuse, and 

wrongdoing in the government, as well as the identification of 

unsafe consumer products, harmful drugs, and serious health 

hazards. 

To help ensure appropriate implementation, the act requires that 

agencies provide annual reports on their FOIA operations to the 

Attorney General, including specific information such as how many 

requests were received and processed in the previous fiscal year and 

how many requests were pending at the end of the year. In addition, 

the President issued an Executive Order2

 in December 2005 that is 

aimed at improving agencies’ disclosure of information consistent 

with FOIA. Among other things, this order requires each agency to 

review its FOIA operations and develop improvement plans; by June 

14, 2006, each agency was to submit a report to the Attorney 

General and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) that summarizes the results of the agency’s review and 

includes a copy of its improvement plan. These plans are to include 

specific outcome-oriented goals and timetables, by which the 

agency head is to evaluate the agency’s success in implementing the 

plan. The Executive Order specifically requires that these plans 

address ways to eliminate or reduce any backlog of FOIA requests. 

As requested, in my remarks today, I will discuss two topics, basing 

my discussion on ongoing work that we are performing for the 

Subcommittee: (1) statistics on the processing of FOIA requests as 

reflected in agencies’ 2005 annual reports, highlighting any trends in 

 1

 See 5 U.S.C. § 552. 

2

 Executive Order 13392, Improving Agency Disclosure of Information (Washington, D.C.: 

Dec. 14, 2005). 

Page 1 GAO-06-1022T 
these reports since 2002, and (2) to what extent agencies addressed 

the Executive Order’s requirement to provide measurable, outcomeoriented goals to reduce or eliminate backlog, along with timetables 

that include milestones for these goals. 

To describe statistics on the processing of FOIA requests, we 

analyzed annual report data for fiscal years 2002 through 2005 from 

25 major agencies3

 (herein we refer to this scope as 

governmentwide). To describe how agency improvement plans 

addressed the order’s requirements regarding goals and timetables 

to address backlog, we analyzed the 22 agencies’ plans that were 

published as of June 30, 2006, to determine whether they contained 

descriptions of activities to reduce backlog, along with goals and 

timetables that could be used to evaluate progress.4

 We also 

reviewed the Executive Order itself, implementing guidance issued 

by OMB and the Department of Justice, other FOIA guidance issued 

by Justice, and our past work in this area. Three agencies, the 

Departments of State and Homeland Security and the Agency for 

International Development, had not published their plans by June 

30, and thus we could not analyze them for this hearing. These three 

agencies have since provided their plans. We discussed the content 

of this statement with officials of the Department of Justice, 

including the Director of the Office of Information and Privacy. 

We conducted our review in accordance with generally accepted 

government auditing standards, except that we did not verify the 

accuracy and reliability of the data in agencies’ annual reports in 

time to be included in this testimony. As a result, our findings on the 

status of FOIA implementation as reflected in agencies’ annual 

reports are preliminary and may change when we complete our 

assessment of data reliability. We performed our work from April to

July 2006. 

 3

 The agencies included are listed in table 2; these agencies are the 24 agencies covered by

the Chief Financial Officers Act, plus the Central Intelligence Agency. 

4

 Two GAO analysts independently analyzed each agency’s plan to determine if it contained 

objective goals and timetables for reducing the backlog. When the analysts disagreed, they

discussed the reasons for their differences and arrived at a consensus. 

Page 2 GAO-06-1022T 
Results in Brief 

The public continues to request and receive increasing amounts of 

information from the federal government through FOIA; however, 

excepting one case—the Social Security Administration (SSA)—the 

rate of increase has flattened in recent years.5

 Based on data 

reported by 24 major agencies in their annual FOIA reports, the 

number of requests received in fiscal year 2005 increased by 27 

percent from 2002, but by only about 2.5 percent from 2004. As more 

requests come in, agencies also report that they have been 

processing more of them—25 percent more from 2002 to 2005 (but 

only about 2.0 percent more than from 2004). For 87 percent of 

requests processed in fiscal year 2005, agencies reported that 

responsive records were provided in full to requesters.However, the 

number of pending requests carried over from year to year has been 

steadily increasing, rising 43 percent since 2002.6

 Further, the rate of 

increase is growing: the increase from fiscal year 2004 to fiscal year 

2005 is 24 percent, compared to 11 percent from 2003 to 2004. 

Finally, the median times to process requests varied greatly across 

the government, ranging from less than 10 days for some agency 

components to more than 100 days at others (sometimes much more 

than 100). 

Most of the agency improvement plans discussed reducing backlog, 

but not all consistently followed the Executive Order or 

implementing guidance provided by the Justice Department. Of the 

25 agencies, 3 had not posted their plans in time to be included in 

this testimony, and 1 reported no backlog. Of the remaining 21 

agencies, 12 followed the Executive Order’s instruction to establish 

measurable, outcome-oriented goals for reducing or eliminating 

 5

 We exclude SSA’s statistics from our discussion of requests received, requests processed, 

and their disposition, because a change in the agency’s counting methodology resulted in a 

report of over 17 million requests for fiscal year 2005, for a jump of about 16 million from 

the year before. Including these statistics in the governmentwide data would obscure yearto-year comparisons. This issue is discussed further on page 15 of this statement. 

6

 These statistics include numbers reported by SSA, because they are not affected by the

approximately 17 million requests mentioned in footnote 5, for which SSA does not keep

statistics on processing times or pending requests. 

Page 3 GAO-06-1022T 
their backlogs, as well as timetables with milestones for achieving 

these goals. Nine agencies did not do this, although they accounted 

for a substantial portion—about 29 percent—of the requests 

reported to be pending at the end of fiscal year 2005. (Most agencies 

did provide goals and timetables for other kinds of objectives, 

however, such as performing staffing analyses and reviewing 

progress.) In addition, agencies generally did not specify the dates 

or numbers they were using as the baselines for their existing 

backlogs, which will be important for measuring improvement. 

GAO’s ongoing work suggests that factors contributing to these 

deficiencies include difficulties in coordinating responses among 

components in large, decentralized agencies and limitations in the 

systems that track FOIA processing. In addition, neither the 

Executive Order nor Justice guidance established a baseline date for 

measuring the backlog or directed agencies to establish such a date. 

Without clearly defined baselines, specific objectives, and 

timetables for reducing backlog, it could be challenging for agency 

heads, Justice, and the Congress to measure progress in improving 

FOIA processes, as intended by the Executive Order. 

When we complete our ongoing review and analysis of FOIA 

statistics and agency improvement plans, we anticipate making 

recommendations to improve agency implementation of the 

Executive Order, including efforts to reduce and eliminate backlog. 

Background 

FOIA establishes a legal right of access to government records and 

information, on the basis of the principles of openness and 

accountability in government. Before the act (originally enacted in 

1966),7

 an individual seeking access to federal records had faced the 

burden of establishing a right to examine them. FOIA established a 

“right to know” standard for access, instead of a “need to know,” 

and shifted the burden of proof from the individual to the 

government agency seeking to deny access. 

 7

 The act has been amended several times. 

Page 4 GAO-06-1022T 
FOIA provides the public with access to government information 

either through “affirmative agency disclosure”—publishing 

information in the Federal Register or the Internet, or making it 

available in reading rooms—or in response to public requests for 

disclosure. Public requests for disclosure of records are the best 

known type of FOIA disclosure. Any member of the public may 

request access to information held by federal agencies, without 

showing a need or reason for seeking the information. 

Not all information held by the government is subject to FOIA. The 

act prescribes nine specific categories of information that are 

exempt from disclosure: for example, trade secrets and certain 

privileged commercial or financial information, certain personnel 

and medical files, and certain law enforcement records or 

information (attachment 1 provides the complete list). In denying 

access to material, agencies may cite these exemptions. The act 

requires agencies to notify requesters of the reasons for any adverse 

determination (that is, a determination not to provide records) and 

grants requesters the right to appeal agency decisions to deny 

access. 

In addition, agencies are required to meet certain time frames for 

making key determinations: whether to comply with requests (20 

business days from receipt of the request), responses to appeals of 

adverse determinations (20 business days from filing of the appeal), 

and whether to provide expedited processing of requests (10 

business days from receipt of the request). Congress did not 

establish a statutory deadline for making releasable records 

available, but instead required agencies to make them available 

promptly. 

The FOIA Process at Federal Agencies 

Although the specific details of processes for handling FOIA 

requests vary among agencies, the major steps in handling a request 

are similar across the government. Agencies receive requests, 

usually in writing (although they may accept requests by telephone 

or electronically), which can come from any organization or 

member of the public. Once received, the request goes through 

several phases, which include initial processing, searching for and 

Page 5 GAO-06-1022T 
retrieving responsive records, preparing responsive records for 

release, approving the release of the records, and releasing the 

records to the requester. Figure 1 is an overview of the process, 

from the receipt of a request to the release of records. 

Figure 1: Overview of Generic FOIA Process 

During the initial processing phase, a request is logged into the 

agency’s FOIA system, and a case file is started. The request is then

reviewed to determine its scope, estimate fees, and provide an initial 

response to the requester (in general, this simply acknowledges 

receipt of the request). After this point, the FOIA staff begins its 

search to retrieve responsive records. This step may include 

searching for records from multiple locations and program offices. 

After potentially responsive records are located, the documents are 

reviewed to ensure that they are within the scope of the request. 

During the next two phases, the agency ensures that appropriate 

information is to be released under the provisions of the act. First, 

the agency reviews the responsive records to make any redactions 

based on the statutory exemptions. Once the exemption review is 

complete, the final set of responsive records is turned over to the 

FOIA office, which calculates appropriate fees, if applicable. Before 

release, the redacted responsive records are then given a final 

review, possibly by the agency’s general counsel, and then a 

Page 6 GAO-06-1022T 
response letter is generated, summarizing the agency’s actions 

regarding the request. Finally, the responsive records are released to 

the requester. 

Some requests are relatively simple to process, such as requests for 

specific pieces of information that the requester sends directly to 

the appropriate office. Other requests may require more extensive 

processing, depending on their complexity, the volume of 

information involved, the need for the agency FOIA office to work 

with offices that have relevant subject-matter expertise to find and 

obtain information, the need for a FOIA officer to review and redact 

information in the responsive material, the need to communicate 

with the requester about the scope of the request, and the need to 

communicate with the requester about the fees that will be charged 

for fulfilling the request (or whether fees will be waived).8

Specific details of agency processes for handling requests vary, 

depending on the agency’s organizational structure and the 

complexity of the requests received. While some agencies centralize 

processing in one main office, other agencies have separate FOIA 

offices for each agency component and field office. Agencies also 

vary in how they allow requests to be made. Depending on the 

agency, requesters can submit requests by telephone, fax, letter, or 

e-mail or through the Web. In addition, agencies may process 

requests in two ways, known as “multitrack” and “single track.” 

Multitrack processing involves dividing requests into two groups: 

(1) simple requests requiring relatively minimal review, which are 

placed in one processing track, and (2) more voluminous and 

complex requests, which are placed in another track. In contrast, 

single-track processing does not distinguish between simple and 

complex requests. With single-track processing, agencies process all 

requests on a first-in/first-out basis. Agencies can also process FOIA 

requests on an expedited basis when a requester has shown a 

compelling need or urgency for the information. 

As agencies process FOIA requests, they generally place them in one 

of four possible disposition categories: grants, partial grants, 

 8

 Fees may be waived when requests are determined to be in the public interest. 

Page 7 GAO-06-1022T 
denials, and “not disclosed for other reasons.” These categories are 

defined as follows: 

● Grants: Agency decisions to disclose all requested records in full. 

● Partial grants: Agency decisions to withhold some records in whole 

or in part, because such information was determined to fall within 

one or more exemptions. 

● Denials: Agency decisions not to release any part of the requested 

records because all information in the records is determined to be 

exempt under one or more statutory exemptions. 

● Not disclosed for other reasons: Agency decisions not to release 

requested information for any of a variety of reasons other than 

statutory exemptions from disclosing records. The categories and 

definitions of these “other” reasons for nondisclosure are shown in 

table 1. 

Table 1: “Other” Reasons for Nondisclosure

Category Definition

No records The agency searched and found no record responsive to the request. 

Referrals The agency referred records responsive to the request to another agency. 

Request withdrawn The requester withdrew the request. 

Fee-related reasons The requester refused to commit to pay fees (or other reasons related to fees). 

Records not reasonably described The requester did not describe the records sought with sufficient specificity to allow them 

to be located with a reasonable amount of effort. 

Not a proper FOIA request The request was not a FOIA request for one of several procedural reasons. 

Not an agency record The requested record was not within the agency’s control. 

Duplicate request The request was submitted more than once by the same requester. 

Source: Department of Justice. 

When a FOIA request is denied in full or in part, or the requested 

records are not disclosed for other reasons, the requester is entitled

to be told the reason for the denial, to appeal the denial, and to 

challenge it in court. 

Page 8 GAO-06-1022T 
The Privacy Act Also Provides Individuals with Access Rights 

In addition to FOIA, the Privacy Act of 19749 includes provisions 

granting individuals the right to gain access to and correct 

information about themselves held by federal agencies. Thus the 

Privacy Act serves as a second major legal basis, in addition to 

FOIA, for the public to use in obtaining government information. 

The Privacy Act also places limitations on agencies’ collection, 

disclosure, and use of personal information. 

Although the two laws differ in scope, procedures in both FOIA and 

the Privacy Act permit individuals to seek access to records about 

themselves—known as “first-party” access. Depending on the 

individual circumstances, one law may allow broader access or 

more extensive procedural rights than the other, or access may be 

denied under one act and allowed under the other. Consequently, 

the Department of Justice’s Office of Information and Privacy issued 

guidance that it is “good policy for agencies to treat all first-party 

access requests as FOIA requests (as well as possibly Privacy Act 

requests), regardless of whether the FOIA is cited in a requester’s 

letter.” This guidance was intended to help ensure that requesters 

receive the fullest possible response to their inquiries, regardless of 

which law they cite. 

In addition, Justice guidance for the annual FOIA report directs 

agencies to include Privacy Act requests (that is, first-party 

requests) in the statistics reported. According to the guidance, “A 

Privacy Act request is a request for records concerning oneself; such 

requests are also treated as FOIA requests. (All requests for access 

to records, regardless of which law is cited by the requester, are 

included in this report.)” 

Although FOIA and the Privacy Act can both apply to first-party 

requests, such requests are not in many cases processed in the same 

way as described earlier for FOIA requests. For example, most SSA 

first-party requests are processed by staff other than FOIA staff, 

 9

 See 5 U.S.C. § 552a. 

Page 9 GAO-06-1022T 
specifically, staff in SSA’s field and district offices and teleservice 

centers.10

Roles of OMB and Justice in FOIA Implementation 

OMB and the Department of Justice both have roles in the 

implementation of FOIA. The act requires OMB to issue guidelines 

to “provide for a uniform schedule of fees for all agencies.”11 OMB 

issued this guidance in April 1987.12

The Department of Justice oversees agencies’ compliance with 

FOIA and is the primary source of policy guidance for agencies. 

Specifically, Justice’s requirements under the act are to 

● make agencies’ annual FOIA reports available through a single 

electronic access point and notify Congress as to their availability;

● in consultation with OMB, develop guidelines for the required 

annual agency reports, so that all reports use common terminology 

and follow a similar format; and 

● submit an annual report on FOIA statistics and the efforts 

undertaken by Justice to encourage agency compliance. 

Within the Department of Justice, the Office of Information and 

Privacy has lead responsibility for providing guidance and support 

to federal agencies on FOIA issues. This office first issued guidelines 

for agency preparation and submission of annual reports in the 

spring of 1997. It also periodically issues additional guidance on 

annual reports as well as on compliance, provides training, and 

 10 According to SSA, its field organization is decentralized to provide services at the local

level, and includes 10 regional offices, 6 processing centers, and approximately 1500 field 

offices. 

11 This provision was added by the Freedom of Information Reform Act of 1986 (Pub. L. 99-

570). 

12 See OMB, Uniform Freedom of Information Act Fee Schedule and Guidelines, 52 FR

10011 (Mar. 27, 1987), effective April 27, 1987. Also in 1987, the Department of Justice 

issued guidelines on waiving fees when requests are determined to be in the public interest. 

Under the guidelines, requests for waivers or reduction of fees are to be considered on a 

case-by-case basis, taking into account both the public interest and the requester’s

commercial interests.

Page 10 GAO-06-1022T 
maintains a counselors service to provide expert, one-on-one 

assistance to agency FOIA staff. Further, the Office of Information 

and Privacy also makes a variety of FOIA and Privacy Act resources 

available to agencies and the public via the Justice Web site and online bulletins. 

1996 Amendments Established Annual FOIA Reports 

In 1996, the Congress amended FOIA to provide for public access to 

information in an electronic format (among other purposes). These 

amendments, referred to as e-FOIA, also required that agencies 

submit a report to the Attorney General on or before February 1 of 

each year that covers the preceding fiscal year and includes 

information about agencies’ FOIA operations.13 The following are 

examples of information that is to be included in these reports: 

● number of requests received, processed, and pending; 

● median number of days taken by the agency to process different 

types of requests; 

● determinations made by the agency not to disclose information and 

the reasons for not disclosing the information; 

● disposition of administrative appeals by requesters; 

● information on the costs associated with handling of FOIA requests; 

and 

● full-time-equivalent staffing information. 

In addition to providing their annual reports to the Attorney 

General, agencies are to make them available to the public in 

electronic form. The Attorney General is required to make all agency 

reports available on line at a single electronic access point and 

report to Congress no later than April 1 of each year that these 

reports are available in electronic form. 

In 2001, we prepared the first in a series of reports on the 

implementation of the 1996 amendments to FOIA, starting from 

 13 5 U.S.C.§ 552(e). 

Page 11 GAO-06-1022T 
fiscal year 1999.14 In this and subsequent reviews, we examined the 

contents of these annual reports for 25 major agencies (shown in 

table 2).15 They include the 24 major agencies covered by the Chief 

Financial Officers Act, as well as the Central Intelligence Agency 

and, until 2003, the Federal Emergency Management Agency 

(FEMA). In 2003, the creation of the Department of Homeland 

Security (DHS), which incorporated FEMA, led to a shift in some 

FOIA requests from agencies affected by the creation of the new 

department, but the same major component entities are reflected in 

all the years reviewed.

 14 GAO, Information Management: Progress in Implementing the 1996 Electronic

Freedom of Information Act Amendments, GAO-01-378 (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 16, 2001).

15 GAO, Information Management: Update on Implementation of the 1996 Electronic

Freedom of Information Act Amendments, GAO-02-493 (Washington, D.C.: Aug. 30, 2002);

Information Management: Update on Freedom of Information Act Implementation

Status, GAO-04-257 (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 18, 2004); and Information Management: 

Implementation of the Freedom of Information Act, GAO-05-648T (Washington, D.C.: May 

11, 2005). 

Page 12 GAO-06-1022T 
Table 2: Agencies Reviewed

Agency Abbreviation

Agency for International Development AID

Central Intelligence Agency CIA

Department of Agriculture USDA

Department of Commerce DOC

Department of Defense DOD

Department of Education ED

Department of Energy DOE

Department of Health and Human Services HHS

Department of Homeland Security a DHS

Federal Emergency Management Agency a FEMA

Department of Housing and Urban Development HUD

Department of Interior DOI

Department of Justice DOJ

Department of Labor DOL 

Department of State State

Department of the Treasury Treas

Department of Transportation DOT

Department of Veterans Affairs VA

Environmental Protection Agency EPA

General Services Administration GSA

National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA

National Science Foundation NSF

Nuclear Regulatory Commission NRC

Office of Personnel Management OPM

Small Business Administration SBA

Social Security Administration SSA

Source: GAO.

a FEMA information was reported separately in fiscal year 2002. In fiscal years 2003, 2004, and 2005, 

FEMA was part of DHS. 

Increases in Requests Are Slowing, but Pending Cases Are 

Increasing 

The annual FOIA reports for fiscal year 2005 show that many of the 

trends of previous years are continuing: Requests received and 

processed continue to rise; however, excepting one case—SSA—the 

rate of increase has flattened in recent years. We present SSA’s 

statistics separately because the agency reported an additional 16 

Page 13 GAO-06-1022T 
million requests in 2005, dwarfing those for all other agencies 

combined, which together total about 2.6 million. SSA attributed this 

rise to an improvement in its method of counting requests. Justice 

officials have raised questions about the inclusion of these numbers 

in FOIA statistics. 

Figure 2 shows total requests reported governmentwide for fiscal 

years 2002 through 2005, with SSA’s share shown separately. This 

figure shows the magnitude of SSA’s contribution to the whole FOIA 

picture, as well as the scale of the jump from 2004 to 2005. 

Figure 2: Total FOIA Requests with SSA Shown Separately, Fiscal Years 2002–2005 

Figure 3 presents these statistics on a scale that allows a clearer 

view of the rate of increase in FOIA requests received and processed 

in the rest of the government. As this figure shows, when SSA’s 

numbers are excluded, the rate of increase is modest and has been 

Page 14 GAO-06-1022T 
flattening: from fiscal year 2002 to 2005, requests received increased 

by about 27 percent, and requests processed increased by about 25 

percent. From fiscal year 2004 to 2005, requests received increased 

about 2.5 percent, and requests processed increased about 2.0 

percent. 

Figure 3: Total FOIA Requests and FOIA Requests Processed, Fiscal Years 2002–2005 

According to SSA, the increases that the agency reported in fiscal 

year 2005 can be attributed to an improvement in its method of 

counting a category of requests it calls “simple requests handled by 

non-FOIA staff.” In the past 4 years, SSA’s FOIA reports have 

consistently shown significant growth in this category, which has 

accounted for the major portion of all SSA requests reported (see 

table 3). In each of these years, SSA has attributed the increases in

this category largely to better reporting, as well as actual increases 

in requests. 

Page 15 GAO-06-1022T 
Table 3: Comparison of SSA’s Simple Requests Handled by Non-FOIA Staff to 

Totals, Fiscal Years 2002 to 2005 

Fiscal year 

Total requests 

received

Total requests 

processed

Simple requests 

handled by nonFOIA staff

Percentage

of total 

processed

2005 17,257,886 17,262,315 17,223,713 99.8

2004 1,453,619 1,450,493 1,270,512 87.6

2003 705,280 704,941 678,849 96.3

2002 268,488 292,884 245,877 84.0

Sources: SSA FOIA reports (self-reported data), GAO analysis. 

SSA describes requests in this category as typically being requests 

by individuals for access to their own records, or else requests in 

which individuals consent for SSA to supply information about 

themselves to third parties (such as insurance and mortgage 

companies) so that they can receive housing assistance, mortgages, 

disability insurance, and so on.16 According to SSA’s FOIA report, 

these requests are handled by personnel in about 1,500 locations in 

SSA, including field and district offices and teleservice centers. Such 

requests are almost always granted,17 according to SSA, and most 

receive immediate responses. SSA has stated that it does not keep 

processing statistics (such as median days to process) on these 

requests, which it reports separately from other FOIA requests (for

which processing statistics are kept). 

According to SSA, in fiscal year 2005, the agency began to use 

automated systems to capture the numbers of requests processed by 

non-FOIA staff, generating statistics automatically as requests were 

processed; the result, according to SSA, is a much more accurate 

count. However, Justice officials have suggested that SSA consider 

treating the bulk of these requests as non-FOIA requests and thus 

not include them in future reports. 

 16 According to SSA officials, most of these simple requests are for essentially the same 

types of information, such as copies of earnings records and verifications of monthly 

benefit amounts or Social Security numbers. The agency considers these requests to be

covered by the Privacy Act and by FOIA; requests covered by both acts are to be reported

in agencies’ annual FOIA reports. 

17 Denials can occur in the case of discrepancies in the requests, such as incorrect Social 

Security numbers, for example. 

Page 16 GAO-06-1022T 
Besides SSA, agencies reporting large numbers of requests received 

were the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Health and Human 

Services, Homeland Security, Justice, the Treasury, and Veterans 

Affairs, as shown in table 4. The rest of the agencies combined 

account for only about 3 percent of the total requests received (if 

SSA is excluded). Table 4 presents, in descending order of request 

totals, the numbers of requests received and percentages of the total 

(calculated with and without SSA’s statistics). 

Table 4: Requests Received, Fiscal Year 2005 

Agency Total

Percentage of total 

including SSA 

Percentage of total 

excluding SSA

SSA 17,257,886 86.78 —

VA 1,914,395 9.63 72.81

HHS 222,372 1.12 8.46

DHS 163,016 0.82 6.20

DOD 81,304 0.41 3.09

Treas 53,330 0.27 2.03

DOJ 52,010 0.26 1.98

USDA 51,516 0.26 1.96

DOL 23,505 0.12 0.89

EPA 12,201 0.06 0.46

OPM 12,085 0.06 0.46

DOT 9,597 0.05 0.37

DOI 6,749 0.03 0.26

State 4,602 0.02 0.18

HUD 4,227 0.02 0.16

SBA 3,739 0.02 0.14

DOE 3,729 0.02 0.14

CIA 2,935 0.01 0.11

ED 2,416 0.01 0.09

DOC 1,804 0.01 0.07

GSA 1,416 0.01 0.05

NASA 1,229 0.01 0.05

NRC 371 0.00 0.01

AID 369 0.00 0.01

NSF 273 0.00 0.01

Total excluding SSA 2,629,190 — —

Total including SSA 19,887,076 — —

Source: FOIA annual reports for 2005 (self-reported data).

Note: Abbreviations are as in table 2. 

Page 17 GAO-06-1022T 
Most Requests Are Granted in Full 

Most FOIA requests in 2005 were granted in full, with relatively few 

being partially granted, denied, or not disclosed for other reasons 

(statistics are shown in table 5). This generalization holds with or 

without SSA’s inclusion. However, including SSA’s numbers in the 

proportion of grants overwhelms the other categories—raising this 

number from 87 percent of the total to 98 percent. This is to be 

expected, since SSA reports that it grants the great majority of its 

simple requests handled by non-FOIA staff, which make up the bulk 

of SSA’s statistics. 

Table 5: Disposition of Processed Requests for Fiscal Year 2005 

Statistics excluding SSA Statistics including SSA

Disposition Number Percentage Number Percentage

Full grants 2,252,867 87.2 19,513,259 98.3

Partial grants 104,356 4.0 104,631 0.5 

Denial 20,949 0.8 21,403 0.1

Not disclosed for other reasons 206,699 8.0 207,893 1.1 

Total 2,584,871 19,847,186

Source: FOIA annual reports for 2005 (self-reported data).

Four of the eight agencies that handled the largest numbers of 

requests (HHS, SSA, USDA, and VA; see table 4) also granted the 

largest percentages of requests in full, as shown in figure 4. This 

figure shows, by agency, the disposition of requests processed: that 

is, whether granted in full, partially granted, denied, or not disclosed 

for the “other” reasons shown in table 1. 

Page 18 GAO-06-1022T 
Figure 4: Disposition of Processed Requests, by Agency (Fiscal Year 2005) 

Note: Abbreviations are shown in table 2. 

As the figure shows, the numbers of fully granted requests varied 

widely among agencies in fiscal year 2005. Seven agencies made full 

grants of requested records in over 80 percent of the cases they 

processed (besides the four already mentioned, these include DOE, 

OPM, and SBA). In contrast, 13 of 25 made full grants of requested 

records in less than 40 percent of their cases, including 3 agencies 

(CIA, NSF, and State) that made full grants in less than 20 percent of 

cases processed. 

Page 19 GAO-06-1022T 
This variance among agencies in the disposition of requests has 

been evident in prior years as well.18 In many cases, the variance can 

be accounted for by the types of requests that different agencies 

process. For example, as discussed earlier, SSA grants a very high 

proportion of requests because they are requests for personal 

information about individuals that are routinely made available to or 

for the individuals concerned. Similarly, VA routinely makes medical 

records available to individual veterans. 

Processing Times Vary 

For 2005, the reported time required to process requests (by track) 

varied considerably among agencies. Table 6 presents data on 

median processing times for fiscal year 2005. For agencies that 

reported processing times by component rather than for the agency 

as a whole, the table indicates the range of median times reported 

by the agency’s components. 

 18 See GAO, Information Management: Progress in Implementing the 1996 Electronic 

Freedom of Information Act Amendments, GAO-01-378 (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 16, 2001),

and Information Management: Update on Freedom of Information Act Implementation

Status, GAO-04-257 (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 18, 2004).

Page 20 GAO-06-1022T 
Table 6: Median Days to Process Requests for Fiscal Year 2005, by Track 

Type of request processing track 

Agency Simple Complex Single Expedited

AID — — 55 34 

CIA 7 68 — — 

DHS 16–61 3–242 — 2–45 

DOC 12 40 — 8 

DOD 16 85 — — 

DOE 5–106 10–170 — 1–12 

DOI 2–43 28–89 — 1–15 

DOJ 0–139 12–863 — 2–185 

DOL 6–30 14–60 — 2–18

DOT 1–30 20–134 — 5–30 

ED 35 66 — 24 

EPA 13–32 4–166 — 8–109

GSA — 14 — — 

HHS 10–26 60–370 5–173 14–158 

HUD 21–65 35–160 — 9–70 

NASA 19 49 — 15 

NRC 12 75 — 20 

NSF — — 14 —

OPM — — 14 1 

SBA — — 7 — 

SSA 15 39 10 17 

State 14 142 — 136 

Treas 2–86 3–251 — 1

USDA 2–90 10–1277 — 1–40 

VA — 1–60 — 1–10

Source: FOIA annual reports for fiscal years 2005 (self-reported data). 

Note: For agencies that reported processing times by component, the table indicates the range of 

reported component median times. A dash indicates that the agency did not report any median time 

for a given track in a given year.

As the table shows, eight agencies had components that reported 

processing simple requests in less than 10 days (these components 

are part of the CIA, Energy, the Interior, Justice, Labor, 

Transportation, the Treasury, and USDA); for each of these 

agencies, the lower value of the reported ranges is less than 10. On 

the other hand, median time to process simple requests is relatively 

long at some organizations (for example, components of HHS, 

Justice, and USDA, as shown by median ranges whose upper end 

values are greater than 100 days). 

Page 21 GAO-06-1022T 
For complex requests, the picture is similarly mixed. Components of 

four agencies (EPA, DHS, the Treasury, and VA) reported 

processing complex requests quickly—with a median of less than 10 

days. In contrast, other components of several agencies (DHS, 

Energy, EPA, HHS, HUD, Justice, State, Transportation, the 

Treasury, and USDA) reported relatively long median times to 

process complex requests, with median days greater than 100. 

Six agencies (AID, HHS, NSF, OPM, SBA, and SSA) reported using 

single-track processing. The median processing times for singletrack processing varied from 5 days (at an HHS component) to 173 

days (at another HHS component). 

The changes from fiscal year 2004 to 2005 also vary. For agencies 

that reported agencywide figures, table 7 shows how many showed 

increased or decreased median processing times. Table 8 shows 

these numbers for the components that were reported separately. 

Page 22 GAO-06-1022T 
Table 7: Changes in Median Processing Times Reported by Agencies for Different Processing Tracks 

Agencies with

increased median

times

Agencies with

decreased median 

times 

Agencies with

unchanged median

times

Processing track 

Number of agencies using

this track Number % Number % Number %

Simple 7 3 42.9 3 42.9 1 14.3

Complex 8 5 62.5 2 25.0 1 12.5

Single 5 3 60.0 2 40.0 0 0.0

Expedited 5 2 40.0 3 60.0 0 0.0

Sources: Annual FOIA reports, GAO analysis.

Table 8: Changes in Median Processing Times Reported by Components for Different Processing Tracks 

Components with 

increased median

times

Components with 

decreased median 

times 

Components with 

unchanged median

times

Processing track 

Number of components

using this track Number % Number % Number %

Simple 122 57 46.7 46 37.7 19 15.6

Complex 105 52 49.5 44 41.9 9 8.6

Single 9 3 33.3 2 22.2 4 44.4

Expedited 43 25 58.1 13 30.2 5 11.6

Sources: Annual FOIA reports, GAO analysis.

Note: A total of 204 components are listed in the FOIA reports. Not all the components processed 

requests or used all the tracks. 

These tables show that no one pattern emerges across tracks and 

types of reporting, and the numbers of agencies and components 

involved vary from track to track. The picture that emerges is of 

great variation according to circumstances. 

To allow more insight into the variations in median processing 

times, we provide in attachment 2 tables of median processing times 

as reported by agencies and components in the annual FOIA reports 

in fiscal years 2004 and 2005. This attachment also includes 

information on the number of requests reported by the agencies and 

components, which provides context for assessing the median times 

reported. 

Agency Pending Cases Continue to Increase 

In addition to processing greater numbers of requests, many 

agencies (11 of 25) also reported that their numbers of pending 

Page 23 GAO-06-1022T 
cases—requests carried over from one year to the next—have 

increased since 2002. In 2002, pending requests governmentwide 

were reported to number about 140,000, whereas in 2005, about 

200,000—43 percent more—were reported. In addition, the rate of 

increase grew in fiscal year 2005, rising 24 percent from fiscal year 

2004, compared to 11 percent from 2003 to 2004. Figure 5 shows 

these results, illustrating the accelerating rate at which pending 

cases have been increasing. 

These statistics include pending cases reported by SSA, because as 

the figure shows, these pending cases do not change the 

governmentwide picture significantly. As previously discussed, 

SSA’s pending cases do not include simple requests handled by nonFOIA staff, for which SSA does not keep these statistics. 

Figure 5: Total FOIA Requests Pending at End of Year, 2002–2005 

Page 24 GAO-06-1022T 
Trends for individual agencies show mixed progress in reducing the 

number of pending requests reported from 2002 to 2005—some 

agencies have decreased numbers of pending cases, while others’ 

numbers have increased. Figure 6 shows processing rates at the 25 

agencies (that is, the number of requests that an agency processes 

relative to the number it receives). Eight of the 25 agencies (AID, 

DHS, the Interior, Education, HHS, HUD, NSF, and OPM) reported 

processing fewer requests than they received each year for fiscal 

years 2003, 2004, and 2005; 8 additional agencies processed less than 

they received in two of these three years. 

In contrast, two agencies (CIA and DOE) had processing rates above 

100 percent in all three years, meaning that each made continued 

progress in reducing their numbers of pending cases. Fifteen 

additional agencies were able to make at least a small reduction in 

their numbers of pending requests in 1 or more years between fiscal 

years 2003 and 2005. 

Page 25 GAO-06-1022T 
Figure 6: Agency Processing Rate for 25 Agencies 

Notes: Abbreviations are as in table 2. 

The agency processing rate is defined as the number of requests processed in a given year

compared with the requests received, expressed as a percentage. 

In 2002, FEMA data were used, and for 2003, 2004, and 2005, DHS data were used. 

About Half of FOIA Improvement Plans Do Not Include Goals and 

Timetables for Reducing the Backlog 

The Executive Order, with its requirement for agencies to develop 

FOIA improvement plans, serves to focus agency managers’ 

attention on the important role that FOIA plays in keeping citizens 

well informed about the operations of their government. By 

Page 26 GAO-06-1022T 
requiring measurable goals and timetables, the Executive Order 

provides for a results-oriented framework by which agency heads 

can hold officials accountable for improvements in FOIA 

processing. Further, the Department of Justice’s guidance on 

implementing the order provides several tangible suggestions for 

improving FOIA operations. 

The Executive Order states that each agency shall develop an 

improvement plan by June 14, 2006, that includes measurable, 

outcome-oriented goals to reduce or eliminate backlog,19 along with 

timetables that include milestones for these goals. According to this 

guidance, the goals and milestones in agency plans should focus on 

outcomes that are measurable and demonstrate whether or not 

intended results are being achieved.20 Justice’s implementation 

guidance directs agencies to include “means of measurement of 

success (e.g., quantitative assessment of backlog reduction 

expressed in numbers of pending requests, percentages, or working 

 19 The Executive Order refers to “requests for records [that] have not been responded to

within the statutory time limit (backlog).” The statute sets a time limit of 20 business days 

for agencies to determine whether to comply with a FOIA request. The law does not set a

specific deadline for providing releasable records (although it does require agencies to

make them available promptly), but in practice, agencies generally respond to requesters in

one step—by providing or denying records—rather than in two steps—notifying requesters 

of their determination of whether to comply and if so providing records. In keeping with

this practice, agencies have interpreted the Executive Order as referring to responses that 

provide or deny records, rather than responses providing a determination. 

Justice officials told us in 2001 that, as a practical matter, they consider the FOIA 

requirement to report data on median processing days to be the basis for measuring 

compliance with the 20-day requirement. GAO, Information Management: Progress in

Implementing the 1996 Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments, GAO-01-378

(Washington, D.C.: Mar. 16, 2001). 

20 The Executive Order states that plans shall include “specific activities that the agency

will implement to eliminate or reduce the agency’s FOIA backlog,” as well as “concrete 

milestones, with specific timetables and outcomes to be achieved;” these milestones will be

such that they can be used to “measure and evaluate the agency’s success in the

implementation of the plan.” 

Page 27 GAO-06-1022T 
days)” and provides agencies considerable leeway in choosing 

measures of timeliness.21 

Most of the 22 agency plans available as of June 30 discussed 

reducing backlog, but not all consistently followed the Executive 

Order directions by establishing goals and timetables for reducing or 

eliminating their backlog. In all, 12 of the 21 agencies that reported a 

backlog included such goals and timetables, but the remaining 9 did 

not do so. (The Small Business Administration did not report a 

backlog.) These 9 agencies accounted for about 29 percent of the 

almost 200,000 requests pending at the end of fiscal year 2005 that 

were reported in the annual FOIA reports. 

Table 9 summarizes the results of our analysis. 

 21 According to Justice’s guidance, “Agencies should consider a number of measures of 

timeliness, including number of pending requests, median processing times, average

processing times (in addition, if that is feasible), number of requests processed in a year,

duration of oldest pending requests, etc.” “In determining such appropriate measurements,

agencies should be able to carefully determine which ones best fit their individual 

circumstances, which can vary greatly from one agency to another.” 

Page 28 GAO-06-1022T 
Table 9: Inclusion in Agency FOIA Improvement Plans of Both Outcomes and Associated Milestones for Reducing Backlog 

Agency 

Outcomeoriented goalsMilestones related

to goals Comment 

AID — — Plan not provided in time for analysis 

CIA Yes Yes —

DHS — — Plan not provided in time for analysis 

DOC No No Process goals and timetable only 

DOD No No Process goals and timetable only 

DOE Yes Yes —

DOI Yes Yes —

DOJ Yes Yes —

DOL No No Process goals and timetable only 

DOT Yes Yes —

ED Yes Yes — 

EPA Yes Yes —

GSA No No Backlog reduction not part of improvement plan 

HHS Yes Yes —

HUD Yes Yes —

NASA No No Backlog reduction not part of improvement plan 

NRC Yes Yes —

NSF No No Process goals and timetable only 

OPM Yes Yes —

SBA — — No backlog 

SSA Yes No Timetable did not include milestones for outcome, 

only for processes 

State — — Plan not provided in time for analysis 

Treas Yes Yes —

USDA No a No a— 

VA No No Process goals and timetable only 

Total yes 13 12 

Source: GAO analysis of agency FOIA improvement plans. 

a USDA provided objectives and timetables by component. Only the Office of Inspector General 

included outcomes and timetables. 

As table 9 shows, 13 agencies included goals, but 1 of these (SSA) 

did not include a timetable associated with its goal. 

The goals chosen by the 13 agencies varied. For example, OPM’s 

plan set a goal of reducing and eliminating the agency’s backlog by 

December 31, 2006. EPA’s goal was to reduce its response backlog 

to less than 10 percent of the number of new FOIA requests received 

each year. Several agencies set goals to reduce backlog to various 

percentages of their current backlog (for example, the CIA, Energy, 

Page 29 GAO-06-1022T 
the Interior, Justice, and the Treasury). HUD set an absolute goal of 

fewer than 400 pending requests. 

Although the remaining 8 agency plans discussed efforts to improve 

FOIA processing, they did not contain goals for backlog reduction. 

In two cases (GSA and NASA), agencies did not include such goals 

because they did not include backlog reduction among the areas of 

improvement on which they planned to focus. These agencies did 

not consider their backlogs significant; nonetheless, the Executive 

Order specifically instructed agencies to include goals and 

timetables to address backlog. 

In other cases, agencies did address backlog reduction but did not 

define goals. Many of these agencies did define process goals, such 

as establishing means to monitor and report on backlog, reviewing 

current processes, and identifying and reviewing tracking systems, 

but these were not accompanied by goals for backlog reduction: 

● For example, the Department of Commerce’s plan stated that, to the 

extent possible, its components would use current backlog numbers 

as a ceiling (these generally range from 9 to 13 percent of the 

workload) and work aggressively to reduce these numbers, focusing

particularly on the 10 oldest requests in each component’s backlog. 

However, although the plan provided milestone dates for FOIA 

officers to review progress in this area and assess any need to 

pursue alternatives (such as contract support) for achieving goals, 

the plan did not provide measurable targets for assessing success, 

such as percentage of reduction. 

● Similarly, the Department of Defense set various process goals 

(identifying those FOIA Offices with backlogs greater than 50 cases, 

determining the staffing levels required to significantly reduce the 

backlog, and seeking the necessary funding to provide this 

additional staffing). However, it provided no measurable targets for 

reducing backlog. 

In the timetables that agencies provided in their plans, 12 agencies 

provided milestones for goals that they had identified. As mentioned 

earlier, one agency (SSA) did not include a milestone for its goal of 

eliminating backlog. SSA provided instead a timetable that 

addressed process goals: reorganizing its Office of Public Disclosure 

Page 30 GAO-06-1022T 
and developing a new information system. Like SSA, several 

agencies provided timetables for various activities that they 

included in their plans to reduce backlog, but these did not include 

milestones for outcome-oriented goals (for example, Defense 

provided milestones for the process goals described above). 

In addition to setting goals and milestones for those goals, in order 

to demonstrate that goals are achieved, plans should also include 

baselines against which results can be measured. In the case of 

backlog, these numbers can differ from day to day, so specifying a 

baseline is crucial. Baselines can be defined on the basis of a date 

from which an agency intends to measure, the number it is using as 

its baseline, or both. Publicly available baselines are important to 

promote accountability as well as the transparency of government 

processes. 

However, most of the agency improvement plans do not clearly 

define baselines for their existing backlogs. An exception was OPM: 

in describing its goal to eliminate backlog by December 31, 2006, it 

specified its present backlog as 107 requests. Similarly, the 

Department of Education referred to measuring its success in terms 

of having fewer open cases at the end of each year, based on a 

backlog that it specified as 480 as of June 2, 2006. In other cases, 

agencies did not specify whether they planned to measure from the 

date of their plans, from the end of fiscal year 2005, or from some 

other baseline. Some agencies did, however, describe plans to 

perform analyses that would measure their backlogs so that they 

could then establish the necessary baselines. 

Our ongoing work suggests that factors contributing to these 

deficiencies included difficulties in coordinating responses among 

components in large decentralized agencies and limitations in the 

way that agency systems track FOIA processing. In addition, neither 

the Executive Order nor Justice guidance established a baseline 

date for measuring the backlog or directed agencies to establish 

such a baseline. Uncertainty regarding defined baselines could 

hinder the measurement of progress in reducing backlog. Without 

clearly defined baselines, specific objectives, and timetables for 

reducing backlog, the risk is that agency heads, Justice, the 

Congress, and the public could be hampered in determining whether 

Page 31 GAO-06-1022T 
and how well agencies have achieved the Executive Order’s aims of 

improving FOIA processing and agency disclosure of information. 

When we complete our ongoing review and analysis, we expect to 

make recommendations aimed at improving agency implementation

of the Executive Order, including efforts to reduce and eliminate 

backlog. 

In summary, FOIA continues to be a valuable tool for citizens to 

obtain information about the operation and decisions of the federal 

government. Since 2002, agencies have received increasing numbers 

of requests and have also continued to increase the number of 

requests that they process. In addition, agencies continue to grant 

most requests in full. However, the rate of increase in pending 

requests is accelerating. 

Given these continuing trends, the President’s Executive Order 

creates, among other things, a renewed, results-oriented emphasis 

on improving request processing and reducing the backlog of 

pending requests. However, our ongoing work suggests that 

agencies are not yet fully complying with the order’s requirements 

for measurable, outcome-oriented goals and associated timetables. 

In addition, agencies have not all established clear baselines for 

their existing backlogs. Without a baseline measurement and 

tangible steps for addressing the accumulation of pending cases, the 

heads of these agencies may be limited in their ability to measure 

and evaluate success in implementing their plans as the President’s 

order requires. Accordingly, in moving forward, it will be important 

for Justice and the agencies to continue to refine these plans so that 

the goal of reducing backlogs can be fully realized and the federal 

government can remain responsive to citizen needs. When we 

complete our ongoing work, we expect to provide 

recommendations to help move this process forward. 

Mr. Chairman, this completes my prepared statement. I would be 

happy to respond to any questions you or other Members of the 

Subcommittee may have at this time. 

Page 32 GAO-06-1022T 
Contact and Acknowledgements 

If you should have questions about this testimony, please contact 

me at (202) 512-6240 or via e-mail at koontzl@gao.gov. Other major 

contributors included Barbara Collier, Vernetta Marquis, Alan 

Stapleton, Shawn Ward, and Elizabeth Zhao.

Page 33 GAO-06-1022T 
Attachment 1: Freedom of Information Act Exemptions 

The act prescribes nine specific categories of information that is 

exempt from disclosure:

Exemption number Matters that are exempt from FOIA 

(1) (A) Specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive Order to be kept 

secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and (B) are in fact properly 

classified pursuant to such Executive Order.

(2) Related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency. 

(3) Specifically exempted from disclosure by statute (other than section 552b of this title), 

provided that such statute (A) requires that matters be withheld from the public in such a 

manner as to leave no discretion on the issue, or (B) establishes particular criteria for 

withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld. 

(4) Trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and 

privileged or confidential. 

(5) Inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters which would not be available by law 

to a party other than an agency in litigation with the agency. 

(6) Personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a 

clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. 

(7) Records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that 

the production of such law enforcement records or information 

(A) could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings;

(B) would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or impartial adjudication; 

(C) could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;

(D) could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source, including a 

State, local, or foreign agency or authority or any private institution which furnished 

information on a confidential basis, and, in the case of a record or information compiled by

a criminal law enforcement authority in the course of a criminal investigation or by an 

agency conducting a lawful national security intelligence investigation, information 

furnished by confidential source; 

(E) would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or 

prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or 

prosecutions if such disclosure could reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the 

law; or 

(F) could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of an individual. 

(8) Contained in or related to examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by, on 

behalf of, or for the use of an agency responsible for the regulation of supervision of 

financial institutions. 

(9) Geological and geophysical information and data, including maps, concerning wells. 

Source: 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(1) through (b)(9). 

Page 34 GAO-06-1022T 
Attachment 2. Median Processing Times Reported 

The attached tables present median processing times as reported by 

agencies in their annual FOIA reports in fiscal years 2004 and 2005. 

To provide context, we include numbers of requests processed for 

each agency or component. We also indicate (in columns headed 

“±”) whether the median days to process rose (+), fell (–), or 

remained unchanged (=). (We also use “~” to indicate other types of 

changes, such as the establishment of a new component.)

Agencies report median processing times according to processing 

tracks: that is, some agencies divide requests into simple and 

complex categories and process these in separate tracks, whereas 

others use a single track. Accordingly, the tables show these tracks 

where applicable. In addition, agencies are required to subject some 

requests to expedited processing, and these are reported as a 

separate track. 

Page 35 GAO-06-1022T 
Tables for the agencies are presented in the following order, which 

corresponds to the order generally used in the figures and tables 

provided in the statement: 

AID Agency for International Development 

CIA Central Intelligence Agency 

DHS Department of Homeland Security 

DOC Department of Commerce 

DOD Department of Defense 

DOE Department of Energy 

DOI Department of the Interior 

DOJ Department of Justice 

DOL Department of Labor 

DOT Department of Transportation

ED Department of Education 

EPA Environmental Protection Agency 

GSA General Services Administration 

HHS Department of Health and Human Services 

HUD Department of Housing and Urban Development 

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

NRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

NSF National Science Foundation

OPM Office of Personnel Management 

SBA Small Business Administration 

SSA Social Security Administration

State Department of State 

Treas Department of the Treasury 

USDA Department of Agriculture 

VA Department of Veterans Affairs 

Page 36 GAO-06-1022T 
Agency for International Development 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Single Expedited

No. Days No. Days

Agency 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

AID 209 196 54 55 + 3 1 13 34 + 

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis.

Central Intelligence Agency 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Agency 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

CIA 501 577 7 7 = 2,834 2,533 63 68 + 1 0 10 n/a

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis.

Page 37 GAO-06-1022T 
Department of Homeland Security 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Component 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

Office of the 

Secretary/ Privacy 

Office 279 604 19 16 – 98 134 66 102 + 48 1 9 11 +

Office of the Inspector 

General n/a 0 n/a n/a 21 14 44 91 + 0 3 n/a 5

Office of the General 

Counsel (a) 0 (a) n/a ~ (a) 1 (a) 222 ~ (a) 0 (a) n/a ~

Information Analysis & 

Infrastructure 

Protection n/a 0 n/a n/a n/a 51 n/a 30 ~ n/a 0 n/a n/a

Emergency 

Preparedness & 

Response 101 186 14 61 + 128 345 48 178 + 28 14 9 45 +

Science & Technology (a) 1 (a) 30 ~ (a) 1 (a) 210 ~ (a) 0 (a) n/a ~

U.S. Coast Guard 6,735 6,035 13 16 + 638 608 21 21 = 30 11 11 2 –

U.S. Secret Service 0 0 n/a n/a 912 701 111 149 + 0 0 n/a n/a

U.S. Citizenship & 

Immigration Services 105,567 85,307 16 45 + 27,850 19,532 31 55 + 580 95 8 15 +

US-VISIT (a) 14 (a) 17 ~ (a) 1 (a) 60 ~ (a) 0 (a) n/a ~

Border & 

Transportation 

Security 

CBP 2,317 3,174 20 17 – 1,986 3,815 30 12 – 4 890 3 17 +

TSA 828 11 8 16 + 1,307 1,199 29 13 – 2 2 45 28 –

ICE 1,124 661 84 35 – n/a 881 n/a 242 ~ n/a 0 n/a n/a

FLETC n/a 0 n/a n/a ~ 1,451 1,834 5 3 – 0 0 n/a n/a

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis. 

a

Component did not exist. 

Page 38 GAO-06-1022T 
Department of Commerce 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Agency 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

Commerce 1,564 1,321 13 12 – 465 511 41 40 – 6 2 5 8 + 

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis.

Department of Defense 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Agency 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

Defense 63,443 66,979 17 16 – 12,972 11,385 59 85 + 841 411 1 0 – 

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis.

Page 39 GAO-06-1022T 
Department of Energy 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Component 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

National Nuclear 

Security 

Administration Service 

Center Albuquerque 118 76 30 15 – 99 108 58 170 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Bonneville Power 

Administration 54 54 12 20 + 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Carlsbad Field Office 0 654 n/a 20 10 14 35 57 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Chicago Operations 

Office 0 36 n/a 21 38 0 21 n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Golden Field Office 21 11 14 33 + 2 1 20.5 66 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Idaho Operations 

Office 45 46 11 13 + 34 34 41 36 – 0 0 n/a n/a

National Energy

Technology 

Operations 9 7 20 10 – 9 26 25 30 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of Naval 

Reactors (a) 7 (a) 10 ~ (a) 0 (a) n/a (a) 0 (a) n/a ~

Oak Ridge Operations 

Office 1,012 970 158 31 – 139 42 257 112 – 30 14 7 12 +

Ohio Environmental 

Management 

Consolidated 

Business Center 89 156 152 28 – 0 0 n/a n/a 10 0 5 n/a ~

Office of Repository 

Development 42 71 15 19 + 29 13 60 73 + 0 0 n/a 0

Richland Operations 

Office 0 190 n/a 31 115 0 18 n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Rocky Flats 

Environmental

Management 

Consolidated 

Business Center 0 794 n/a 106 16 0 916 n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Savannah River 

Operations Office 65 40 61 73 + 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of Scientific and 

Technical Information 1 3 1 10 + 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Southeastern Power 

Administration 3 0 10 n/a 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Southwestern Power 

Administration 5 4 10 5 – 0 2 n/a 10 0 0 n/a n/a

Strategic Petroleum 

Reserve 13 13 10 21 + 0 2 n/a 82 0 4 n/a 1

Page 40 GAO-06-1022T 
Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Component 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

Western Area Power 

Administration 35 40 10 10 = 2 4 20 15 – 0 1 n/a 5

Department of Energy 

Headquarters 395 384 81 41 – 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis. 

a

Component did not exist. 

Page 41 GAO-06-1022T 
Department of the Interior 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Component 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

Department of the 

Interior 4,126 6,206 3–834 2–43 ~ 30 189 0–99 28–89 ~ 63 25 2–64 1–15 ~ 

Office of the Secretary (a) (a) n/a n/a (a) (a) 99 89 – (a) (a) 64 2 –

Office of Inspector 

General (a) (a) 834 7 – (a) (a) n/a n/a (a) (a) 2 1 –

Office of the Solicitor (a) (a) 15 18 + (a) (a) n/a n/a (a) (a) n/a n/a

Office of Surface 

mining (a) (a) 21 13 – (a) (a) 0 55 + (a) (a) n/a n/a

Minerals Management 

Service (a) (a) 22 n/a (a) (a) n/a 28 (a) (a) 14 n/a

Bureau of Land 

Management (a) (a) n/a 23 (a) (a) 56 57 + (a) (a) 5 6 +

Fish and Wildlife 

Service (a) (a) 35 29 – (a) (a) n/a n/a (a) (a) 10 15 +

National Park Service (a) (a) 20 19 – (a) (a) n/a n/a (a) (a) 10 n/a

Bureau of 

Reclamation (a) (a) 20 18 – (a) (a) n/a n/a (a) (a) 8 1 –

U.S. Geological

Survey (a) (a) 18 14 – (a) (a) n/a n/a (a) (a) n/a n/a

Bureau of Indian 

Affairs (a) (a) 158 43 – (a) (a) n/a n/a (a) (a) n/a n/a

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis. 

a

Statistics not broken down by component. 

Note: The Department of Interior reported the number of requests processed as a department, not by 

individual components. 

Page 42 GAO-06-1022T 
Department of Justice 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Component 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

Office of the Attorney 

General 401 213 17 27 + 23 35 480 362 – 2 3 135 96 –

Office of the Deputy 

Attorney General 246 108 17 29 + 15 10 291 363 + 0 2 n/a 62

Office of the Associate 

Attorney General 52 40 44 89 + 4 0 344 n/a 1 2 47 112 +

Antitrust Division 145 131 18 19 + 13 14 412 484 + 1 0 18 n/a

Bureau of Prisons 15,047 13,243 15 16 + 680 475 28 29 + 13 25 1 3 +

Bureau of Alcohol, 

Tobacco, Firearms, 

and Explosives 2,437 1,719 7 8 + 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Civil Division 859 466 9 10 + 0 0 n/a n/a 0 1 n/a 7

Civil Rights Division 473 565 8 8 = 60 100 283 359 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Community Relations 

Service 8 2 10 10 = 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Criminal Division 0 0 n/a n/a 1,414 1,291 16 35 + 2 1 31 97 +

Drug Enforcement 

Administration 0 0 n/a n/a 1,933 1,569 12 16 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Environment and 

Natural Resources 

Division 0 0 n/a n/a 177 145 40 53 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Executive Office for 

Immigration Review 7,811 9,367 29 43 + 681 476 89 149 + 65 27 26 44 +

Executive Office for 

United States 

Attorneys 4,848 3,751 46 58 + 0 0 n/a n/a 73 84 195 169 –

Executive Office for 

United States 

Trustees 0 0 n/a n/a 61 65 6 19 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Federal Bureau of 

Investigation 10,253 10,828 6 6 = (b) (b) n/a n/a 35 14 41 42 +

Foreign Claims

Settlement 

Commission 17 9 5 5 = 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Justice Management 

Division 3,128 2,130 8 (c) 31 35 35 (c) 0 0 n/a n/a

National Drug

Intelligence Center 80 58 22 21 – 3 3 30 73 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of Community 

Oriented Policing 

Services 101 61 14 8 – 0 0 n/a n/a 2 0 6 n/a

Page 43 GAO-06-1022T 
Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Component 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

Office of Dispute 

Resolution 8 4 5 5 = 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of the Federal 

Detention Trustee 27 11 7 8 + 2 0 105 n/a 0 1 n/a 7

Office of Information 

and Privacy 434 443 12 13 + 1 1 397 52 – 0 1 n/a 185

Office of the Inspector 

General 241 208 10 11.5 + 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of Intelligence 

Policy and Review 28 33 8 6 – 6 17 27 31 + 0 2 n/a 16

Office of 

Intergovernmental and 

Public Liaison 15 6 41 46 + 0 0 n/a n/a 0 1 n/a 38

Office of Justice 

Programs 493 206 1 2 + 59 108 25 25 = 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of Legal 

Counsel 55 68 10 10 = 9 16 30 30 = 0 1 n/a 40

Office of Legal Policy 47 76 37 58 + 2 3 188 863 + 0 2 n/a 28

Office of Legislative 

Affairs 58 63 84 86 + 6 9 386 330 – 0 2 n/a 67

Office of the Pardon 

Attorney 40 43 29 21 – 3 0 100 n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of Professional 

Responsibility 129 86 19 15 – 7 9 389 334 – 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of Public Affairs 20 22 137 139 + 3 3 226 730 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of the Solicitor 

General 73 64 60 60 = 0 0 n/a n/a 2 22 8 10 +

Office on Violence 

Against Women (a) 14 (a) 50 ~ (a) 0 (a) n/a ~ (a) 0 (a) n/a ~

Professional 

Responsibility 

Advisory Office 13 14 3 3.5 + 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Tax Division 226 237 0 0 = 27 26 15 28 + 0 0 n/a n/a

U.S. Marshals Service 1,531 999 21 26 + 16 17 130 195.5 + 0 0 n/a n/a

U.S. National Central 

Bureau--INTERPOL 271 184 5 6 + 10 18 24 21 – 2 3 3 2 –

U.S. Parole 

Commission 0 0 n/a n/a 1,351 1,011 20 12 – 0 0 n/a n/a

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis. 

Page 44 GAO-06-1022T 
a Component did not exist. 

b

 In addition to the expedited track, the FBI maintains three tracks for requests: small (0 to 500 

pages), medium (501 to 2,500 pages), and large (more than 2,500 pages). The former is reported in 

the “simple requests” category; the latter two are reported as “complex requests.” Therefore FBI’s 

complex requests were excluded from analysis 

c

 Justice Management Division used average days opposed to median days, so it was excluded 

Page 45 GAO-06-1022T 
Department of Labor 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Component 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

Occupational Safety 

and Health 

Administration 8,410 7,855 7 13 + 2,695 3,431 18 45 + 34 82 4 18 +

Employment 

Standards 

Administration 6,670 6,948 17 13 – 1,057 904 23 37 + 89 73 5 9 +

Mine Safety and 

Health Administration 1,150 0 17 n/a 0 1,058 n/a 20 0 3 n/a 7

Employment and 

Training 

Administration 480 270 15 20 + 35 94 20 30 + 1 5 2 10 +

Employee Benefits 

Security 

Administration 367 1,456 11 7 – 65 257 40 34 – 0 2 n/a 10

Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for 

Administration and 

Management 152 151 13 13 = 62 35 20 26 + 1 1 2 4 +

Administrative Law 

Judges 215 206 2 10 + 0 0 n/a n/a 0 6 n/a 3

Veterans' Employment 

and Training Service 71 87 27 10 – 15 19 29 39 + 2 1 8 8 =

Office of the Inspector 

General 71 47 30 28 – 8 28 60 50 – 0 0 n/a n/a

Bureau of Labor 

Statistics 56 54 13 17 + 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of Adjudicatory 

Services 25 52 7 6 – 4 0 18 n/a 2 0 2 n/a

Womens Bureau 27 19 15 10 – 0 2 n/a 25 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of Disability 

Employment Policy 12 23 20 30 + 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Policy 3 16 25 20 – 2 1 25 60 + 1 0 25 n/a

Office of 

Congressional and 

Intergovernmental 

Affairs 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Bureau of 

International Labor 

Affairs 4 24 16 7 – 9 2 30 14 – 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of the Chief 

Financial Officer 12 8 10 7 – 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of Public Affairs 7 8 7 7 = 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Page 46 GAO-06-1022T 
Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Component 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

Office of Small 

Business Programs 22 22 30 10 – 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of the Solicitor 62 30 12 14 + 7 3 54 30 – 0 1 n/a 2

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis.

Page 47 GAO-06-1022T 
Department of Transportation 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Component 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 320 150 1 1 = 394 87 82 77 – 0 10 n/a 30

Office of Inspector 

General 60 50 6 8 + 46 34 51 64 + 3 0 57 n/a

Federal Aviation

Administration 5,162 4,401 4 3 – 2,231 2,179 31 28 – 45 46 8 9 +

Federal Highway 

Administration 331 294 9 16 + 30 31 30 134 + 0 17 n/a 13

Federal Railroad 

Administration 0 0 n/a n/a 524 451 95 90 – 0 0 n/a n/a

National Highway 

Traffic Safety 

Administration 0 0 n/a n/a 367 263 23 20 – 0 0 n/a n/a

Federal Transit

Administration 192 199 68 29 – 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Saint Lawrence 

Seaway Development 

Corporation 36 0 18 n/a 0 33 n/a 20 0 0 n/a n/a

Maritime 

Administration 0 124 n/a 30 155 0 30 n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Research and Special 

Programs 

Administration 85 43 19 15 – 89 75 135 40 – 11 1 5 5 =

Federal Motor Carrier 

Safety Administration 0 0 n/a n/a 778 823 58 31 – 0 0 n/a n/a

Bureau of 

Transportation 

Statistics 46 67 5 11 + 0 6 n/a 20 0 0 n/a n/a

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis.

Page 48 GAO-06-1022T 
Department of Education 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Agency 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

Education 1,566 1,874 0-30 35 ~ 442 329 2-134 66 ~ 74 16 3-21 24 ~

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis.

Page 49 GAO-06-1022T 
Environmental Protection Agency

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Component 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

Headquarters 2,188 1,717 19 19 = 1 42 170 58 – 6 2 16 20 +

Region 1 New 

England Region 317 249 19 18 – 0 2 29 46 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Region 2 New Jersey, 

New York, Puerto 

Rico, U.S. Virgin

Islands and 7 Tribal 

Nations 2,949 1,912 27 30 + 7 2 49 40 – 1 1 9 8 –

Region 3 Mid-Atlantic 1,748 1,699 15 13 – 0 9 n/a 4 1 0 7 n/a

Region 4 Southeast 

Region 1,034 852 21 19 – 5 71 75 41 – 1 0 6 n/a

Region 5 Mid-West 

Region 2,011 1,920 18 18 = 2 3 70 30 – 0 0 n/a n/a

Region 6 South 

Central Region 860 624 18 32 + 1 0 353 n/a 0 2 n/a 109

Region 7 America’s 

Heartland Region 651 767 23 27 + 0 2 n/a 166 0 0 n/a n/a

Region 8 Mountains 

and Plains Region 387 332 13 15 + 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Region 9 Pacific 

Southwest Region 725 588 16 18 + 0 39 n/a 38 1 0 6 n/a

Region 10 Pacific 

Northwest Region 454 273 20 20 = 1 0 19 n/a 1 0 27 n/a

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis.

Page 50 GAO-06-1022T 
General Services Administration 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Agency 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

GSA 0 0 n/a n/a 1,182 1,561 14 14 = 0 0 n/a n/a 

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis.

Page 51 GAO-06-1022T 
Department of Health and Human Services 

Two tables are provided for this department, because its 

components report both multitrack (simple and complex) 

processing and single-track processing. 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Simple Complex

No. Days No. Days

Component 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

Office of the Secretary 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Administration for 

Children and Families (a) 0 (a) n/a ~ (a) 0 (a) n/a ~ 

Administration on 

Aging 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Centers for Medicare 

& Medicaid Services 31,051 33,583 9 10 + 652 722 77 86 + 

Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Public 

Health 72 179 10 10 = 446 611 60 60 = 

Agency for Healthcare 

Research and Quality 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Centers for Disease 

Control and 

Prevention 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Food and Drug

Administration 13,626 15,539 25 26 + 1,993 1,987 325 370 + 

Health Resources and 

Services 

Administration 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Indian Health Services 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

National Institutes of 

Health 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Substance Abuse and 

Mental Health 

Services 

Administration 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Single Expedited

No. Days No. Days 

Component 2004 2005

200

4 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005

± 

Office of the Secretary 1,147 934 55 69 + 1 1 2 60 + 

Administration for 

Children and Families (a) 137 (a) 40 ~ (a) 4 (a) 41 ~ 

Page 52 GAO-06-1022T 
Single Expedited

No. Days No. Days 

Administration on 

Aging 13 22 5 5 = 0 0 n/a n/a

Centers for Medicare 

& Medicaid Services 0 0 n/a n/a 11 42 66 158 + 

OASPH 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Agency for Healthcare 

Research and Quality 76 94 25 34 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Centers for Disease 

Control and 

Prevention 977 1,134 36 36 = 2 2 52 52 = 

Food and Drug

Administration 2,921 1,007 113 86 – 0 2 n/a 100

Health Resources and 

Services 

Administration 416 380 20 20 = 0 6 n/a 14

Indian Health Services 158,277 151,428 32 32 = 0 0 n/a n/a

National Institutes of 

Health 10,583 13,382 182 173 – 0 0 n/a n/a

Substance Abuse and 

Mental Health 

Services 

Administration 132 206 38 45 + 0 0 n/a n/a

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis. 

a

Component did not exist. 

Page 53 GAO-06-1022T 
Department of Housing and Urban Development 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Component 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

Headquarters 1,676 984 95 65 – 248 271 161 160 – 70 74 42 22 –

Field 1,510 1,150 21 21 = 10 15 30 35 + 95 160 23 70 +

Office of Inspector 

General 354 254 55 45 – 0 0 n/a n/a 15 15 9 9 =

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Agency 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

NASA 1,069 938 18 19 + 454 410 33 49 + 44 3 26 15 – 

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis.

Page 54 GAO-06-1022T 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Agency 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

NRC 357 303 11 12 + 27 28 47 75 + 5 14 60 20 – 

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis.

National Science Foundation 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Single Expedited

No. Days No. Days

Agency 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

NSF 309 266 20 14 – 0 0 n/a n/a 

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis.

Office of Personnel Management 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Single Expedited

No. Days No. Days

Agency 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

OPM 9,310 10,898 9 14 + 0 2 n/a 1 

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis.

Page 55 GAO-06-1022T 
Small Business Administration 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Single Expedited

No. Days No. Days

Agency 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

SBA 1,927 3,737 5 7 + 0 0 n/a n/a 

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis.

Social Security Administration 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Simple Complex

No. Days No. Days

Agency 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

SSA 397 364 19 15 – 882 1,014 37 39 +

Single Expedited

No. Days No. Days

Agency 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

SSA 1,321 1,555 14 10 – 0 31 n/a 17

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis. 

Note: The tables exclude SSA’s category of “simple requests handled by non-FOIA staff” and “simple 

request for Social Security number applications and other Office of Earnings Operations records.” 

The category SSA labels “fast track” was reported under “single track.” 

Page 56 GAO-06-1022T 
Department of State 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Agency 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

State 1,236 1,647 6 14 + 3,710 2,216 209 142 – 17 7 184 136 – 

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis. 

Page 57 GAO-06-1022T 
Department of the Treasury

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Component 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

The Departmental 

Offices 332 307 2 2 = 782 790 172 251 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Alcohol and Tobacco 

Tax and Trade Bureau 0 168 n/a 86 201 17 78 93 + 0 1 n/a 1

Office of the 

Comptroller of the 

Currency 322 4,635 10 2 – 8,030 179 50 73 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Bureau of Engraving 

and Printing 69 76 4 3 – 44 12 60 31 – 1 0 5 n/a

Financial Management 

Service 0 0 n/a n/a 529 351 7 10 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Internal Revenue 

Service 0 0 n/a n/a 51,985 42,533 21 21 = 0 0 n/a n/a

United States Mint 0 0 n/a n/a 67 316 15 15 = 0 0 n/a n/a

Bureau of the Public 

Debt 0 0 n/a n/a 91 90 4 3 – 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of Thrift 

Supervision 0 0 n/a n/a 1,827 4,003 15 12 – 2 0 n/a n/a

Treasury Inspector 

General for Tax 

Administration 0 208 n/a 4 256 161 172 30 – 0 0 10 n/a

Financial Crimes 

Enforcement Network 0 18 n/a 6 32 122 99 95 – 0 0 n/a n/a

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis.

Page 58 GAO-06-1022T 
Department of Agriculture 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Simple Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days No. Days

Component 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

Agricultural Marketing 

Service 139 120 19 22 + 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection 

Service 435 922 77 90 + 59 193 800 1,277 + 37 20 53 40 –

Departmental 

Administration 47 53 35 29 – 0 0 n/a n/a 0 1 n/a 7

Farm Service Agency 32 44 16 14 – 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Food, Nutrition and 

Consumer Service 190 137 6 15 + 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Farm Service Agency 30,430 41,743 14 2 – 22,377 1,155 54 10 – 476 247 13 1 –

Forest Service 1,846 1,426 15 18 + 1,807 2,196 21 18 - 5 42 8 14 +

Food Safety and 

Inspection Service 0 544 n/a 26 535 0 73 n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Grain Inspection, 

Packers and 

Stockyards 

Administration 52 113 10 8 – 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Grain Inspection, 

Packers and 

Stockyards 23 44 5 8 + 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

National Appeals 

Division 322 358 15 18 + 6 12 17 16 – 2 4 5 9 +

Office of Budget and 

Program Analysis 4 7 1 2 + 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of 

Communications 339 303 18 24 + 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of the Chief 

Financial Officer 0 0 n/a n/a 36 19 15 16 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of the Chief 

Information Officer 2 10 1 10 + 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of Civil Rights 0 0 n/a n/a 82 43 15 28 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of General 

Counsel 0 0 n/a n/a 12 12 34 34 = 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of the Inspector 

General 133 178 5 4 – 47 58 112 102 – 5 7 1 3 +

Research, Education 

and Economics 0 87 n/a 15 164 115 15 15 = 0 4 n/a 15

Risk Management 

Agency 73 57 20 20 = 7 25 60 40 – 1 0 5 n/a

Rural Development 0 0 n/a n/a 1,484 1,623 12 12 = 0 0 n/a n/a

+ increase 

Page 59 GAO-06-1022T 
– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis.

Page 60 GAO-06-1022T 
Department of Veterans Affairs 

The department reports all processing in one track, but it refers to 

this track as complex, rather than single track. 

No. = number of requests processed; Days = median days to process; ± = change from 2004 to 2005

Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days

Component 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

Acquisition & Material 

Management 376 289 4 2.5 – 0 0 n/a n/a

Administration 0 1,463 n/a 4 0 0 n/a n/a

Board of Contract 

Appeals 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Board of Veterans 

Appeals 1,006 1,049 49 19 – 0 0 n/a n/a

Congressional & 

Legislative Affairs 0 (a) n/a (a) ~ 0 (a) n/a (a) ~ 

Diversity Management & 

Equal Employment 

Opportunity 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

General Counsel 67 65 35 15 – 0 2 n/a 10

Human Resources 

Management 45 1 31.5 4 – 0 0 n/a n/a

Inspector General 347 287 10 16 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Information Technology 

Support Service 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of Management 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

National Cemetery 

Administration 0 19 n/a 15 16 0 18 n/a

Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Human 

Resources & 

Administration 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Public & 

Intergovernmental 

Affairs 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of the Deputy 

Assistant Secretary for 

Budget 0 8 n/a 1 16 0 1 n/a

Office of the Deputy 

Assistant Secretary for 

Intergovernmental 

Affairs 0 10 n/a 1 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of Finance 58 63 15 11.5 – 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of Information & 

Technology 53 72 11.5 51 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Page 61 GAO-06-1022T 
Complex Expedited

No. Days No. Days

Component 2004 2005 2004 2005 ± 2004 2005 2004 2005 ±

Office of Resolution 

Management 16 12 5 10 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Office of Small & 

Disadvantaged Business 

Utilization 0 1 n/a 1 0 0 n/a n/a

Policy and Planning 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Public Affairs 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Security & Law

Enforcement 0 (a) n/a (a) ~ 0 (a) n/a (a) ~ 

Office of the Secretary 16 6 45 60 + 0 0 n/a n/a

Veterans Benefits 

Administration 93,296 83,332 15 15.5 + 384 88 5 4.5 – 

Veterans Canteen 

Service 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

Veterans Health 

Administration 1,699,079 1,814,837 4 1 – 20,730 13,409 1 1 = 

White House Liaison 0 0 n/a n/a 0 0 n/a n/a

+ increase 

– decrease 

= no change 

~ other change (change in reporting, new component, etc.) 

Sources: Annual FOIA report, GAO analysis. 

a Component did not exist. 

(310775) Page 62 GAO-06-1022T 
This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the 

United States. It may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without further 

permission from GAO. However, because this work may contain copyrighted images or 

other material, permission from the copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to 

reproduce this material separately. 
GAO’s Mission The Government Accountability Office, the audit, evaluation and 

investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting its 

constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and 

accountability of the federal government for the American people. GAO 

examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; 

and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help

Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. GAO’s 

commitment to good government is reflected in its core values of 

accountability, integrity, and reliability. 

The fastest and easiest way to obtain copies of GAO documents at no cost

is through GAO’s Web site (www.gao.gov). Each weekday, GAO posts 

newly released reports, testimony, and correspondence on its Web site. To

have GAO e-mail you a list of newly posted products every afternoon, go 

to www.gao.gov and select “Subscribe to Updates.” 

The first copy of each printed report is free. Additional copies are $2 each. 

A check or money order should be made out to the Superintendent of 

Documents. GAO also accepts VISA and Mastercard. Orders for 100 or 

more copies mailed to a single address are discounted 25 percent. Orders 

should be sent to: 

U.S. Government Accountability Office 

441 G Street NW, Room LM 

Washington, D.C. 20548 

To order by Phone: Voice: (202) 512-6000 

TDD: (202) 512-2537 

Fax: (202) 512-6061 

Contact: 

Web site: www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm

E-mail: fraudnet@gao.gov

Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or (202) 512-7470 

Gloria Jarmon, Managing Director, JarmonG@gao.gov (202) 512-4400 

U.S. Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 7125 

Washington, D.C. 20548 

Paul Anderson, Managing Director, AndersonP1@gao.gov (202) 512-4800

U.S. Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 7149 

Washington, D.C. 20548 

Obtaining Copies of 

GAO Reports and 

Testimony

Order by Mail or Phone 

To Report Fraud,

Waste, and Abuse in 

Federal Programs 

Congressional 

Relations 

Public Affairs 

PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER