Why It Matters
The Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs issued 27.3 million passports in fiscal 2025, a new annual record, as the agency expands online renewal and plans six new passport agencies. According to a new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, that figure is more than double the fiscal 2006 total of over 12 million and nearly five times the fiscal 1996 total of over 5.5 million.
Fiscal 2025 issuance was approximately 13% higher than the 24.2 million passports issued in fiscal 2024. Congress faces active oversight questions on processing times, online renewal cybersecurity standards, sex marker policy and library access.
The Big Picture
The Department of State's June 22 quarterly processing-time report told Congress the agency was meeting its service commitments of four to six weeks for routine applications and two to three weeks for expedited ones, citing an increase in adjudicative staffing of over 32% since January 2022.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, Public Law 118-31, required the Secretary of State to submit a strategy for expanding urgent in-person passport services to residents more than a five-hour drive from an agency. The DOS Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025, Public Law 118-159, required modernization priorities including a mobile app, broader online renewal eligibility and additional adjudication tools.
A proposed rule published Aug. 28 would extend online renewal eligibility to U.S. citizens abroad and remove the requirement that an existing passport have a year or less of remaining validity; the rule had not been finalized as of the CRS report's publication. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in September that first-time applicants would be able to apply online starting in 2027, though in-person verification would still be required under 22 U.S.C. §213, according to The Washington Post.
The Trump administration's Executive Order 14168, issued Jan. 20, 2025, directed that passports reflect "an individual's immutable biological classification as either male or female," reversing the prior administration's policy allowing self-selection and an "X" marker. In Orr v. Trump, transgender and nonbinary citizens allege the policy violates the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act; a decision on the merits of that case is pending.
In fall 2025, the Department of State began informing a network of over 7,500 nonprofit public libraries that they were no longer eligible to serve as passport acceptance facilities, according to PBS News. A bill to authorize the Secretary of State to designate nonprofit public libraries as acceptance facilities passed the House in July. A companion Senate bill (S. 3733), introduced by Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), was reported favorably and unanimously by the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on July 27 and advanced to the full Senate, where it is now pending.
The Bottom Line
The comment period on the proposed rule to expand online passport renewal closed Oct. 27, and the Department of State will publish a final rule. Six new passport agencies are projected to open between winter 2026, starting with Kansas City, Mo., and winter 2028, with Salt Lake City last, though the report describes those timelines as tentative.
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