WASHINGTON — In 110 federal agencies, staff answering Freedom of Information Act requests turned up records that under the agency’s own disposal schedule should already have been destroyed. The figure is in a report the National Archives’ Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) published Sept. 23. It draws on the FOIA questions in NARA’s 2025 Records Management Self-Assessment.
The 110 agencies are 42.1 percent of the 261 that answered the question. Another 106 said they had not found such records, and 45 did not know. The report does not name the agencies. Once a request arrives, an agency must process any responsive record it still holds, even one past its disposal date, and keep it through the entire administrative and court process, OGIS wrote.
The survey covers a year of staff cuts. Between fiscal 2024 and 2025, full-time FOIA staff at the 15 Cabinet departments and 10 independent agencies fell 16 percent, and backlogs at those agencies rose 27 percent, according to the OGIS annual report to Congress released in June.
One agency in five now uses AI to search for requested records
Fifty-four of 262 agencies (20.6 percent) said they use artificial intelligence or machine learning to index, catalog or organize records for FOIA searches. That is up from 18.6 percent in the 2024 survey. Another 192 (73.3 percent) said they do not use it.
OGIS wrote that AI and machine learning “are not a substitute for the judgment of FOIA professionals” on exemptions and foreseeable harm. It said early adopters are already using the tools to flag potentially exempt information.
E-discovery software is more common. In all, 207 of 260 agencies (79.6 percent) use it for FOIA or litigation searches, the highest share since OGIS first asked in 2020. Of the agencies using it, 112 borrow licenses from other offices and 29 bought tools for the FOIA office alone. Among the 43 agencies without e-discovery, 20 said the tools were unavailable to them and 17 cited cost.
Four surveys, three measures
DeClassified Now compiled the table below from the 2024 and 2025 OGIS reports. Dashes mark years in which the question was not asked.
| Agencies reporting that they… | 2020 | 2022 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use e-discovery tools for FOIA or legal discovery | 72% | 75% | 73.6% | 79.6% |
| Use AI or machine learning to organize records for FOIA searches | – | – | 18.6% | 20.6% |
| Found FOIA-responsive records past their approved disposal date | – | – | 46.6% | 42.1% |
The 2025 report gives the 2022 e-discovery figure as 75 percent in its detailed results and as 73 percent in its summary observations. The table uses the detailed figure.
The share of agencies holding records past their disposal date fell 4.5 points from 2024. OGIS noted that more agencies still answered yes than no. It wrote that over-retained records raise storage costs and enlarge the pool that FOIA staff must search and review, which adds to delays.
Records officers and FOIA officers often work separately
The survey also asked how each agency’s records officer works with its Chief FOIA Officer. Of 259 respondents, 126 (48.6 percent) said the two collaborate on high-profile or complex requests. Another 124 (47.9 percent) said they jointly identify the offices likely to hold responsive records, and 99 (38.2 percent) said they coordinate search terms.
Forty-nine of 262 records officers or records staff (18.7 percent) said they had received no FOIA training. The share of agencies running training on how FOIA and records management connect has fallen in each of the last four surveys that asked, according to the report. OGIS called for agencies to make that coordination routine and “close training gaps.”
A records survey NARA has run since 2009
NARA’s Chief Records Officer has administered the Records Management Self-Assessment since 2009 to check agency compliance with federal records law. OGIS began adding FOIA questions in 2016 under its statutory duty to review agency FOIA compliance, 5 U.S.C. § 552(h)(2)(B). This year’s survey was open from March 9 to May 15, 2026, and covered calendar 2025. It drew 276 responses, a 98 percent response rate. OGIS excluded 12 judicial branch respondents, which are covered by records law but not by FOIA.
What’s next: The full 2025 self-assessment results will appear in NARA’s Federal Agency Records Management Annual Report to Congress, according to OGIS. The report does not give a publication date.
Filed under: National Archives and Records Administration / Office of Government Information Services
Sources
- OGIS, “Assessing Freedom of Information Act Compliance through the National Archives and Records Administration’s 2025 Records Management Self-Assessment” (PDF), Sept. 2026
- The FOIA Ombuds (OGIS blog), “OGIS Publishes Annual RMSA Report,” Sept. 23, 2026
- OGIS, 2024 Records Management Self-Assessment FOIA report (PDF), Sept. 25, 2025
- OGIS, “The Freedom of Information Act Ombudsman 2026 Report for Fiscal Year 2025”
- 5 U.S.C. § 552, the Freedom of Information Act (OGIS review duty at § 552(h)(2)(B))