Who Files the Most FOIA Lawsuits Against the Federal Government
Original analysis of 11,389 records from the Federal Judicial Center, FY2006–FY2025 (federal fiscal years, Oct–Sep); ranking FY2025. Published October 21, 2026.
We counted every Freedom of Information Act case (nature of suit 895) commenced in U.S. district courts in FY2025 and ranked the first-listed plaintiffs, with the agencies they sued and a series back to FY2006.
Who brings FOIA cases to federal court
Judicial Watch was the first-listed plaintiff in 58 of the 961 Freedom of Information Act lawsuits commenced in U.S. district courts in fiscal 2025 (6.0%), more than any other filer. Protect the Public's Trust (37), the Center to Advance Security in America (29), the Informed Consent Action Network (28) and American Oversight (26) follow. Organizations led 64.1% of all FOIA cases; individuals, whom we do not name, led the rest.
- 961FOIA lawsuits commenced in FY2025
- 58FY2025 cases with Judicial Watch as first plaintiff
- 64%FY2025 cases with an organization as first plaintiff
Judicial Watch leads
Judicial Watch was first plaintiff in 58 FOIA cases in FY2025 (6.0% of 961), 1.6× as many as the second-ranked filer, Protect the Public's Trust (37).
A small group files a large share
The 12 organizations with 12 or more cases each were first plaintiff in 279 FOIA cases, 29.0% of the FY2025 total.
Nonprofits lead most cases
Nonprofit and advocacy groups led 531 cases (55.3%). News organizations led 39 (4.1%), including 12 by The New York Times Company.
Homeland Security leads identified defendants
Where the first-listed defendant can be assigned to an agency, the Department of Homeland Security and its components lead with 158 cases, ahead of the Justice Department (140) and Health and Human Services (106).
Filings have nearly doubled since FY2016
FOIA cases rose from 488 in FY2016 to 961 in FY2025, an increase of 96.9%. The District of Columbia received 626 of the FY2025 cases (65.1%).
Which Organizations File the Most FOIA Lawsuits
In FY2025, Judicial Watch was the first-listed plaintiff in 58 Freedom of Information Act cases, followed by Protect the Public's Trust with 37 and the Center to Advance Security in America with 29.
Judicial Watch was the first-listed plaintiff in the most FOIA lawsuits in FY2025, 58 of 961 cases (6.0%). American Oversight, ranked fifth, led 26.
The table lists every organization that was the first-listed plaintiff in at least two FOIA cases commenced in FY2025, 69 in all. Spelling variants of one name were combined, for example the three forms of The New York Times Company and the ACLU and ACLU Foundation entries. One name in the top group is cut off in the court data and appears as recorded.
Several leading filers concentrate on one part of the government. The Informed Consent Action Network named the Department of Health and Human Services or one of its components as first defendant in 23 of its 28 cases, and the Center to Advance Security in America named the Defense Department or a military branch in 11 of 29. The CSV adds each organization's most frequently sued agency.
The ranking counts cases, not requests or records. It does not account for how many FOIA requests each organization submits, so a high count is not by itself a measure of how often agencies deny requests.
FOIA lawsuits by first-listed plaintiff organization, FY2025
| Organization | Cases | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Judicial Watch | 58 | 6.0% |
| Protect the Public's Trust | 37 | 3.9% |
| Center to Advance Security in America | 29 | 3.0% |
| Informed Consent Action Network | 28 | 2.9% |
| American Oversight | 26 | 2.7% |
| Public Health Reform Alliance | 20 | 2.1% |
| Center for Biological Diversity | 19 | 2.0% |
| American Civil Liberties Union (incl. ACLU Foundation) | 13 | 1.4% |
| Center for Immigration Studies | 13 | 1.4% |
| America First Legal Foundation | 12 | 1.2% |
| Mississippi Medical Pro… (name truncated in court data) | 12 | 1.2% |
| The New York Times Company | 12 | 1.2% |
All organizations with two or more cases
| Organization | Cases | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Democracy Forward Foundation | 11 | 1.1% |
| U.S. Right to Know | 11 | 1.1% |
| National Student Legal Defense Network | 10 | 1.0% |
| Environmental Defense Fund | 9 | 0.9% |
| Southern Environmental Law Center | 8 | 0.8% |
| Government Accountability & Oversight | 7 | 0.7% |
| National Shooting Sports Foundation | 7 | 0.7% |
| Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington | 6 | 0.6% |
| Functional Government Initiative | 6 | 0.6% |
| Freedom of the Press Foundation | 5 | 0.5% |
| Heritage Foundation | 5 | 0.5% |
| Human Rights Defense Center | 5 | 0.5% |
| Louise Trauma Center | 5 | 0.5% |
| Project On Government Oversight | 5 | 0.5% |
| Sierra Club | 5 | 0.5% |
| White Coat Waste Project | 5 | 0.5% |
| Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Research | 4 | 0.4% |
| Institute for Energy Research | 4 | 0.4% |
| National Immigration Project | 4 | 0.4% |
| Bader Family Foundation | 3 | 0.3% |
| Bloomberg L.P. | 3 | 0.3% |
| Cato Institute | 3 | 0.3% |
| International Refugee Assistance Project | 3 | 0.3% |
| James Madison Project | 3 | 0.3% |
| MSW Media | 3 | 0.3% |
| National Immigration Litigation Alliance | 3 | 0.3% |
| Power the Future | 3 | 0.3% |
| Project for Privacy and Surveillance Accountability | 3 | 0.3% |
| Public Citizen | 3 | 0.3% |
| Tax Analysts | 3 | 0.3% |
| African Immigrant Rights Council | 2 | 0.2% |
| Alliance for the Wild Rockies | 2 | 0.2% |
| American Immigrant Investor Alliance | 2 | 0.2% |
| Americans United for Separation of Church and State | 2 | 0.2% |
| Amica Center for Immigrant Rights | 2 | 0.2% |
| Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project | 2 | 0.2% |
| Bread for the City | 2 | 0.2% |
| Electronic Privacy Information Center | 2 | 0.2% |
| Environmental Integrity Project | 2 | 0.2% |
| Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project | 2 | 0.2% |
| Free Burma Society | 2 | 0.2% |
| Immigrant Investors Association | 2 | 0.2% |
| Immigrant Legal Defense | 2 | 0.2% |
| Just Futures Law | 2 | 0.2% |
| KFF (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation) | 2 | 0.2% |
| Legal Eagle LLC | 2 | 0.2% |
| Military Religious Freedom Foundation | 2 | 0.2% |
| National Association for Gun Rights | 2 | 0.2% |
| Northwest Immigrant Rights Project | 2 | 0.2% |
| Oceana | 2 | 0.2% |
| ProPublica | 2 | 0.2% |
| Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility | 2 | 0.2% |
| Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press | 2 | 0.2% |
| Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights | 2 | 0.2% |
| Rocky Mountain Wild | 2 | 0.2% |
| Senior Citizens League | 2 | 0.2% |
| Shine a Light LLC | 2 | 0.2% |
FY2025 = October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025, the federal fiscal year used by the courts. Share = share of all FOIA cases commenced in FY2025.
Who Sues Under FOIA: Groups, Media and Individuals
Nonprofit and advocacy groups were the first-listed plaintiff in 531 of the 961 FOIA cases in FY2025 (55.3%); individuals led 345 (35.9%).
Most FOIA lawsuits are led by organizations: 616 of 961 in FY2025 (64.1%). Individuals led 345.
We sorted each first-listed plaintiff into one of six types by name. Nonprofit and advocacy groups include watchdog groups, think tanks, environmental groups and immigrant legal services providers. News organizations led 39 cases, spread across 21 outlets. Businesses led 27 and law firms 15.
Every plaintiff name that is not an organization is counted as an individual. Individual plaintiffs are never named in this study or its CSV files.
FOIA lawsuits by type of first-listed plaintiff, FY2025
- Nonprofit or advocacy group53155.3% of FY2025 cases
- Individuals (not named)34535.9% of FY2025 cases
- News organization394.1% of FY2025 cases
- Business272.8% of FY2025 cases
- Law firm151.6% of FY2025 cases
- State, tribe or public body40.4% of FY2025 cases
Which Agencies Face the Most FOIA Lawsuits
Among FY2025 FOIA cases whose first-listed defendant can be identified, the Department of Homeland Security and its components lead with 158 (16.4% of all cases), followed by the Justice Department with 140.
Among identifiable defendants, Homeland Security was named most often in FY2025 FOIA cases (158), ahead of Justice (140), Health and Human Services (106) and Defense (78).
We assigned each case to the department or independent agency of its first-listed defendant and rolled components up to their department: Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services count under Homeland Security, the FBI under Justice, the military branches under Defense.
The court data cut names off after 30 characters. Where the remaining text still points to a single agency, as in “United States Department of Ju…”, we assigned the case to that agency. For 105 cases (10.9%) the agency cannot be identified, mostly because the name is cut off before the department is named (“United States Departmen…”), the remaining letters fit more than one department (“…Department of Ho…” for Homeland Security or Housing), or only an official is named. The counts of individual agencies are therefore lower bounds, and the order of agencies, including the lead of Homeland Security over Justice, could change if those names were known. A further 12 cases name only the United States, and 15 name a defendant outside the federal government.
FOIA lawsuits by first-listed defendant agency, FY2025
- Department of Homeland Security15816.4% of FY2025 cases
- Department of Justice14014.6% of FY2025 cases
- Department of Health and Human Services10611.0% of FY2025 cases
- Department of Defense788.1% of FY2025 cases
- Department of State626.5% of FY2025 cases
- Department of the Treasury363.7% of FY2025 cases
- Department of the Interior293.0% of FY2025 cases
- Department of Education212.2% of FY2025 cases
- Department of Agriculture161.7% of FY2025 cases
- Department of Energy141.5% of FY2025 cases
All agencies and groups
- Department of Transportation131.4% of FY2025 cases
- Environmental Protection Agency131.4% of FY2025 cases
- Central Intelligence Agency111.1% of FY2025 cases
- Department of Commerce111.1% of FY2025 cases
- Social Security Administration111.1% of FY2025 cases
- National Archives and Records Administration101.0% of FY2025 cases
- Office of Personnel Management101.0% of FY2025 cases
- Department of Veterans Affairs90.9% of FY2025 cases
- Office of Management and Budget90.9% of FY2025 cases
- Office of the Director of National Intelligence80.8% of FY2025 cases
- U.S. Agency for International Development80.8% of FY2025 cases
- Department of Labor60.6% of FY2025 cases
- U.S. DOGE Service60.6% of FY2025 cases
- Federal Trade Commission50.5% of FY2025 cases
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission40.4% of FY2025 cases
- Federal Communications Commission40.4% of FY2025 cases
- Federal judiciary40.4% of FY2025 cases
- Securities and Exchange Commission40.4% of FY2025 cases
- Federal Reserve Board30.3% of FY2025 cases
- Department of Housing and Urban Development20.2% of FY2025 cases
- NASA20.2% of FY2025 cases
- U.S. Postal Service20.2% of FY2025 cases
- Other federal agencies141.5% of FY2025 cases
- United States (no agency named)121.2% of FY2025 cases
- Non-federal defendant151.6% of FY2025 cases
- Not identifiable (truncated name or official)10510.9% of FY2025 cases
How Many FOIA Lawsuits Are Filed Each Year
U.S. district courts received 961 FOIA cases in FY2025, against 488 in FY2016 and 307 in FY2006.
U.S. district courts received 961 FOIA lawsuits in FY2025, almost the same as the 960 of FY2024 and 96.9% more than in FY2016.
Over the ten fiscal years FY2016 to FY2025, Judicial Watch was the first-listed plaintiff in 487 of 7,808 FOIA cases (6.2%). Its count in FY2025 (58) was slightly below FY2024 (60). American Oversight first appears in the data in FY2017 with 14 cases.
Most FOIA cases are filed in Washington. The District of Columbia's share of all FOIA cases was 51.0% in FY2016 and 65.1% in FY2025.
FOIA lawsuits commenced in U.S. district courts by fiscal year, FY2006–FY2025
| FY | Cases | Judicial Watch | D.C. share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 961 | 58 | 65.1% |
| 2024 | 960 | 60 | 70.8% |
| 2023 | 839 | 55 | 66.6% |
| 2022 | 771 | 47 | 65.4% |
| 2021 | 639 | 34 | 59.8% |
| 2020 | 786 | 28 | 61.6% |
| 2019 | 844 | 50 | 61.4% |
| 2018 | 864 | 53 | 61.8% |
| 2017 | 656 | 58 | 60.2% |
| 2016 | 488 | 44 | 51.0% |
All years since FY2006
| FY | Cases | Judicial Watch | D.C. share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 513 | 40 | 48.7% |
| 2014 | 442 | 34 | 47.3% |
| 2013 | 383 | 31 | 46.2% |
| 2012 | 345 | 30 | 43.5% |
| 2011 | 387 | 25 | 38.2% |
| 2010 | 295 | 15 | 42.0% |
| 2009 | 312 | 21 | 36.9% |
| 2008 | 275 | 4 | 42.9% |
| 2007 | 322 | 6 | 40.7% |
| 2006 | 307 | 6 | 34.9% |
Fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30. FY2026 is incomplete in the data and is not shown.
Download the Data and Cite This Study
Every table as a CSV file and in one Excel workbook, a short PDF summary and every chart as an image, free to reuse with attribution (CC BY 4.0).
- FOIA lawsuits by first-listed defendant agency, FY2025Freedom of Information Act cases commenced in FY2025 grouped by the department or agency of the first-listed defendant, with components rolled up to their department; names cut off in the court data are assigned only where the remaining text points to a single agency. · 36 rows · CSV, 1 KB
- FOIA lawsuits by fiscal year, FY2006-FY2025Freedom of Information Act cases commenced per federal fiscal year, cases with Judicial Watch and American Oversight as first plaintiff, District of Columbia cases, and the judiciary's published count from Table C-2A. · 20 rows · CSV, 1 KB
- FOIA lawsuits by first-listed plaintiff organization, FY2025Organizations that were first-listed plaintiff in at least two Freedom of Information Act cases (nature of suit 895) commenced in U.S. district courts in FY2025, with share of all FOIA cases and the agency group they sued most. · 69 rows · CSV, 7 KB
- FOIA lawsuits by type of first-listed plaintiff, FY2025Freedom of Information Act cases commenced in FY2025 grouped by our classification of the first-listed plaintiff; individuals are not named. · 6 rows · CSV, 1 KB
- All tables in one Excel workbookOne sheet per table plus an About sheet with sources, method and citation · Excel (.xlsx), 17 KB
- Summary to print or forward (3 pages)Short answer, key figures, main chart, findings, method and citation · PDF, 256 KB
Charts for your story
FOIA lawsuits by first-listed plaintiff organization, FY2025
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FOIA lawsuits by type of first-listed plaintiff, FY2025
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FOIA lawsuits by first-listed defendant agency, FY2025
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FOIA lawsuits commenced in U.S. district courts by fiscal year, FY2006–FY2025
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How to cite
Goldberg, L. (2026). FOIA lawsuits against the federal government — cases by plaintiff organization and agency (FY2006–FY2025) [Data set]. Settlement Insight. https://settlementinsight.com/research/who-files-most-foia-lawsuits
BibTeX
@dataset{goldberg_2026_who_files_most_foia_lawsuits,
author = {Goldberg, Leonard},
title = {FOIA lawsuits against the federal government --- cases by plaintiff organization and agency (FY2006--FY2025)},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Settlement Insight},
url = {https://settlementinsight.com/research/who-files-most-foia-lawsuits}
}How We Measured
Checked against published figures
- Freedom of Information Act cases commenced in U.S. district courts, FY2021: published 641, our count 639 (0.31% apart).Table C-2A. U.S. District Courts - Civil Cases Commenced, by Nature of Suit, During the 12-Month Periods Ending September 30, 2021 through 2025
- Freedom of Information Act cases commenced in U.S. district courts, FY2022: published 775, our count 771 (0.52% apart).Table C-2A. U.S. District Courts - Civil Cases Commenced, by Nature of Suit, During the 12-Month Periods Ending September 30, 2021 through 2025
- Freedom of Information Act cases commenced in U.S. district courts, FY2023: published 846, our count 839 (0.83% apart).Table C-2A. U.S. District Courts - Civil Cases Commenced, by Nature of Suit, During the 12-Month Periods Ending September 30, 2021 through 2025
- Freedom of Information Act cases commenced in U.S. district courts, FY2024: published 959, our count 960 (0.10% apart).Table C-2A. U.S. District Courts - Civil Cases Commenced, by Nature of Suit, During the 12-Month Periods Ending September 30, 2021 through 2025
- Freedom of Information Act cases commenced in U.S. district courts, FY2025: published 961, our count 961 (exact match).Table C-2A. U.S. District Courts - Civil Cases Commenced, by Nature of Suit, During the 12-Month Periods Ending September 30, 2021 through 2025
- Freedom of Information Act cases commenced in FY2025 with the United States as defendant: published 792, our count 795 (0.38% apart).Table C-2. U.S. District Courts - Civil Cases Commenced, by Basis of Jurisdiction and Nature of Suit, During the 12-Month Periods Ending September 30, 2024 and 2025
Full method and limits of the data
We selected all records with nature of suit code 895 (“Freedom of Information Act”, actions under 5 U.S.C. § 552) and a filing date from October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2025, and assigned each to a federal fiscal year. Each record is one case commenced, as in the judiciary's own tables: original filings, removals, transfers and reopened cases. We removed 12 duplicate records that carried the same district, docket number and filing date.
For FY2025 we grouped cases by the first-listed plaintiff and by the first-listed defendant. Organizations were identified by name, spelling variants were merged, and each was classified as a nonprofit or advocacy group, news organization, business, law firm, or state, tribe or public body. Defendants were assigned to their department or independent agency by name. A name cut off in the court data was assigned only where the remaining letters fit a single agency.
To check the data, we recomputed the judiciary's published counts. Table C-2A lists 961 FOIA cases commenced in FY2025, the same as our count of 961; over FY2021–FY2025 our total of 4,170 differs from the published 4,182 by 0.29%. Table C-2 lists 792 FY2025 FOIA cases with the United States as defendant; our count of 795 differs by 0.38%.
What this data cannot tell you
- The data record only the first-listed plaintiff and defendant, cut off after 30 characters. An organization named second or later is not counted, so each figure counts the cases an organization leads, not every case it joined.
- The classification of plaintiffs is ours and is based on names alone. Organizations with only one FY2025 case are reported by type, not by name, and a few truncated names may be assigned to the wrong type.
- Records are cases commenced, not distinct disputes: 36 of the FY2025 records are reopened, transferred, removed or remanded cases, and one dispute can produce more than one record.
- The counts do not show whether agencies withheld records improperly or how the cases ended, and they are not adjusted for how many FOIA requests each organization files or each agency receives. In the FJC data, 166 FY2025 FOIA cases are coded under federal-question jurisdiction rather than as cases with the United States as defendant. Most of them still name a federal agency or official as first defendant; only 12 name a defendant outside the federal government, so the gap between all FOIA cases and the U.S.-defendant column reflects how cases were coded, not suits against private parties.
- Courts can correct or add records after the fact. FY2025 ended more than a year before this analysis, but a later FJC release may change individual counts slightly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who files the most FOIA lawsuits?
Judicial Watch was the first-listed plaintiff in 58 of the 961 Freedom of Information Act lawsuits commenced in U.S. district courts in FY2025 (6.0%), more than any other filer. Protect the Public's Trust ranked second with 37.
How many FOIA lawsuits are filed each year?
The federal judiciary counted 961 FOIA cases commenced in U.S. district courts in FY2025, the year ending September 30, 2025. Our count from the FJC data is 961, against 488 in FY2016.
How many FOIA lawsuits does Judicial Watch file?
Judicial Watch was first plaintiff in 58 FOIA cases in FY2025 and 60 in FY2024. From FY2016 to FY2025 it led 487 cases, 6.2% of all FOIA cases in that period.
Which federal agency is sued most under FOIA?
Among cases where the agency can be identified, the Department of Homeland Security and its components were the first-listed defendant most often in FY2025, in 158 FOIA cases, followed by the Justice Department (140). For 10.9% of cases the agency cannot be identified from the court data, so these are lower bounds.
Do news organizations file many FOIA lawsuits?
News organizations were the first-listed plaintiff in 39 of 961 FOIA cases in FY2025 (4.1%). The New York Times Company led 12 of them.
Where are most FOIA lawsuits filed?
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia received 626 of the 961 FOIA cases commenced in FY2025 (65.1%).
Sources
- Integrated Database (IDB) — civil cases — Federal Judicial Center
- Table C-2A. U.S. District Courts—Civil Cases Commenced, by Nature of Suit, During the 12-Month Periods Ending September 30, 2021 through 2025 — Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
- Table C-2. U.S. District Courts—Civil Cases Commenced, by Basis of Jurisdiction and Nature of Suit, During the 12-Month Periods Ending September 30, 2024 and 2025 — Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
- Civil Nature of Suit Code Descriptions (JS 44) — U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- What is FOIA? — U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Information Policy (FOIA.gov)
Independent analysis. Settlement Insight is not a law firm and not affiliated with any agency named here. Analysis by Leonard Goldberg, Editor. How we work: methodology, our data.
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