Federal agencies faced surge of FOIA requests last year
The Obama administration performed better on FOIA in 2011, but still struggled to keep up with demand.
Federal agencies responded to more Freedom of Information Act requests in 2011, but still could not keep pace with the growing number of requests, according to a new analysis by The Associated Press.
The agencies responded to more than 576,000 requests, which was five percent more than in 2010, the AP said.
But requests submitted surged to more than 587,000, an 8 percent increase over the previous year, primarily involving immigration files at the Homeland Security Department.
While 23 out of 37 agencies reduced their backlogs, several agencies, including Homeland Security, saw an increase in backlogged requests.