EAJA Awards For 2025

      The Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) shifts the costs of attorney fees to the federal government if the agency loses in many cases. For Social Security EAJA fees are awarded in almost all cases won in the federal courts or remanded from them, but not those resolved administratively.

     The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) produces an annual report on EAJA awards. Here’s a table from the report for 2025:

Agency	# of Awards Reported	Total Amount Reported
Social Security Administration	8,447	$ 53,220,859.93
Department of Veterans Affairs	6,834	$ 53,527,169.71
Department of Homeland Security	40	$ 11,025,985.33
Federal Trade Commission	1	$ 3,046,291.94
Department of the Interior	10	$ 1,785,233.00
Department of War	35	$ 1,388,437.86
Department of Agriculture	12	$ 1,301,602.26
Environmental Protection Agency	4	$ 1,220,000.00
Department of Commerce	4	$ 1,013,000.00
Department of Justice	3	$ 287,569.00
Department of Health and Human Services	5	$ 232,499.00
Department of Housing and Urban Development	5	$ 168,475.00
Department of Energy	1	$ 140,003.20
National Labor Relations Board	2	$ 105,539.00
Department of Labor	1	$ 76,190.47
Department of Transportation	1	$ 51,762.00
Railroad Retirement Board	1	$ 7,330.60
Totals	15,406	$128,597,948.30

     It’s worth mentioning that the attorney representing the claimant who receives an EAJA award does not get to pocket both the EAJA fee and the fee coming out of the claimant’s benefits. The lower amount must be refunded to the claimant.