US Personnel Agency FOIA Backlog Swells as Staff Cuts and Portal Failures Disrupt Public Access
Over 600 federal information specialists have departed since the start of the second Trump administration, contributing to a backlog of 1,600 requests and average processing times exceeding 84 days.
The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is experiencing severe disruptions to its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) processing capabilities, driven by a combination of significant staff reductions and technical failures in its digital submission systems. According to data obtained by Linxi News, the agency’s ability to process public records requests has deteriorated markedly since the commencement of the second Trump administration, with over 600 government information specialists across federal agencies resigning or being dismissed.
These departures are linked to initiatives by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has overseen workforce reductions across multiple agencies. Within the OPM specifically, 12 information specialists left their positions; seven were laid off, and only one new hire was made during this period. A former FOIA specialist at the agency stated in February 2025 that the cuts had severely impacted the office’s efficiency and its capacity to fulfil statutory legal obligations.
The reduction in personnel has coincided with a sharp increase in administrative delays. By the end of the 2025 fiscal year, the OPM’s FOIA backlog had exceeded 1,600 requests, a figure seven times higher than the backlog recorded at the end of the previous fiscal year. The average processing time for simple requests at the agency doubled to over 84 days, up from the previous year’s rate.
Compounding the staffing crisis, the OPM’s web portal, managed by federal contractor Opexus, suffered technical failures in early July 2026. Requesters attempting to submit documents encountered error messages and bounced emails when contacting support addresses. Opexus, formerly known as AINS, has been awarded more than $50 million in federal contracts and has faced scrutiny for cybersecurity issues, including the indictment of two employees for compromising government data.
Opexus stated it became aware of the portal issue on July 10, 2026, and restored access on July 23, claiming that no customer data was compromised and that the outage was isolated to the OPM portal. The contractor asserted that the issue did not prevent requests from being submitted through alternate methods. The OPM did not respond to requests for comment regarding the disruptions.
