Skip to content

FOIA Lawsuits

Top 10 Federal Agencies Against Whom the Most FOIA Lawsuits Were Filed

Fiscal Year 2011

FOIA suits filed against just three agencies account for 55 percent of all FOIA
court actions during FY 2011. The big three — Department of Justice,
Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense — dominated court litigation in the previous year as well.





Top 10 Federal Agencies Against Whom the Most FOIA Lawsuits Were Filed

*Counts each time an agency and/or subagency was sued. Suing an agency official along with the agency is only counted once.
FY
2011
Rank 		Organization Number FOIA Suits Filed* Percent of Total
FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2010 FY 2011
Total (All Agencies) 417 457 100.0% 100.0%
1 U.S. Department of Justice 133 147 30.4% 30.3%
2 Department of Homeland Security 47 64 10.8% 13.2%
3 Department of Defense 46 55 10.5% 11.3%
4 Department of Health and Human Services 24 28 5.5% 5.8%
5 United States Department of the Treasury 33 20 7.6% 4.1%
6 Department of State 22 18 5.0% 3.7%
7 Central Intelligence Agency 10 16 2.3% 3.3%
8 U.S. Department of Labor 9 13 2.1% 2.7%
9 U.S. Department of the Interior 23 12 5.3% 2.5%
9 U.S. Department of Agriculture 9 12 2.1% 2.5%
11 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 8 10 1.8% 2.1%
11 Department of Housing and Urban Development 4 10 0.9% 2.1%
13 Department of Veterans Affairs 5 9 1.1% 1.9%
14 Department of Education 3 8 0.7% 1.6%
14 Social Security Administration 5 8 1.1% 1.6%
16 Department of Commerce 7 7 1.6% 1.4%
17 Department of Energy 3 6 0.7% 1.2%
18 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 4 4 0.9% 0.8%
19 National Labor Relations Board 1 3 0.2% 0.6%
19 Office of the Director of National Intelligence 5 3 1.1% 0.6%
19 Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget 1 3 0.2% 0.6%
19 Securities and Exchange Commission 5 3 1.1% 0.6%
23 United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 1 2 0.2% 0.4%
23 Federal Communications Commission 3 2 0.7% 0.4%
23 Federal Reserve Board 6 2 1.4% 0.4%
23 National Archives & Records Administration 0 2 0.0% 0.4%
23 National Science Foundation 0 2 0.0% 0.4%
23 Office of Personnel Management 4 2 0.9% 0.4%
23 Unites States Section, International Boundary and Water Commission 1 2 0.2% 0.4%
30 Department of Transportation 2 1 0.5% 0.2%
30 Federal Trade Commission 0 1 0.0% 0.2%
30 Legal Services Corporation 0 1 0.0% 0.2%
30 Merit Systems Protection Board 0 1 0.0% 0.2%
30 National Credit Union Administration 0 1 0.0% 0.2%
30 Office of Science and Technology Policy 0 1 0.0% 0.2%
30 Peace Corps 0 1 0.0% 0.2%
30 U.S. Small Business Administration 1 1 0.2% 0.2%
30 U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission 0 1 0.0% 0.2%
30 United States Agency for International Development 2 1 0.5% 0.2%
30 United States Postal Service 1 1 0.2% 0.2%
30 Office of the U.S. Trade Representative 0 1 0.0% 0.2%
42 American Battle Monument Commission 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Administrative Conference of the U.S. 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Armed Forces Retirement Home 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Broadcasting Board of Governors 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Council on Environmental Quality 1 0 0.2% 0.0%
42 Commodity Futures Trading Commission 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Corporation for National and Community Service 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 The U.S. Copyright Office 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Export-Import Bank of the United States 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Farm Credit Administration 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 1 0 0.2% 0.0%
42 Federal Election Commission 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 1 0 0.2% 0.0%
42 Federal Financial Institutions Council 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Federal Housing Finance Agency 1 0 0.2% 0.0%
42 Federal Labor Relations Authority 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Federal Maritime Commission 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Federal Open Market Committee 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 U.S. General Services Administration 1 0 0.2% 0.0%
42 Inter-American Foundation 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Institute of Museum and Library Services 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Millennium Challenge Corporation 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 National Capital Planning Commission 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 National Endowment for the Arts 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 National Endowment for the Humanities 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 National Indian Gaming Commission 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 National Mediation Board 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 National Railroad Passenger Corporation 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 National Transportation Safety Board 1 0 0.2% 0.0%
42 U.S. Office of Government Ethics 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Office of National Drug Control Policy 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Overseas Private Investment Corporation 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 U.S Office of Special Counsel 2 0 0.5% 0.0%
42 Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Pension Benefit Guaranty  Corporation 1 0 0.2% 0.0%
42 Postal Regulatory Commission 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Selective Service System 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Surface Transportation Board 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Tennessee Valley Authority 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 African Development Foundation 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 Railroad Retirement Board 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 United States Commission on Civil Rights 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 United States International Trade Commission 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 0 0 0.0% 0.0%
42 U.S. Trade and Development Agency 0 0 0.0% 0.0%

No comments yet

Leave a Reply

Note: XHTML is allowed. Your email address will never be published.

Subscribe to this comment feed via RSS

Skip to toolbar