# Adjudication

**Agency:** Labor  
**Account:** Adjudication  
**Source document:** Departmental Management · p. 10  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/budget/labor/adjudication  

> **Trust:** parsed from the agency Congressional Justification. Approximate, **not summable**, verify at the cited page.

## Funding ($M)

| Fiscal year | Basis | Amount |
| --- | --- | --- |
| FY2025 | enacted | 69.7 |
| FY2026 | enacted | 65.8 |
| FY2027 | request | 65.8 |

## Labor discretionary budget authority (OMB PBDB — authoritative)

FY2027 $10.30B, FY2026 $13.70B. This is the agency total, not a sum of the parsed lines.


## What this funds

In FY 2027, OALJ will adjudicate approximately 980 Black Lung cases with about 3,000 pending at the end of the FY, which results in a pendency of 37-months. During FY 2027, the number of new Defense Base Act (DBA) cases is projected to total about 8,500. At the end of FY 2027, pending Defense Base Act cases are projected to total over 20,000 resulting in a 41-month pendency. Due to the significant increase in new DBA cases over the last several years, OALJ estimates that at the end of FY 2028, pending cases will exceed 22,000, equating to a 45-month case pendency, even though OALJ will dispose of at least 6,000 cases in FY 2027, 3.75 times more than it did in FY 2020. OALJ projects to receive around 200 Temporary Immigration cases during FY 2027 and dispose of about the same number. In the Permanent Alien Labor Certification (PERM) Immigration program area, OALJ projects disposing of 200 cases with pending cases at the end of FY 2027 to be at 673, resulting in a pendency of 28-months. During FY 2027, OALJ is projecting to dispose of 1,100 Longshore cases and anticipates 950 new cases resulting in a 10-month pendency. The Traditional/Whistleblower case area is projected at 500 case dispositions with a 22-month pendency at the end of FY 2027. While OALJ is disposing of 60 percent more cases a year than it did in 2020, the number of new cases has doubled, resulting in a growing pending case list. Adjudicatory Boards Workload estimates for all three Adjudicatory Boards are based on Worker Protection claims and complaints. Actual incoming workload remains outside the control of the Boards and is affected by such factors as changes to workers' compensation laws, attorney/representative involvement in the appeals process, and increases and decreases in the workforce. More than 95 percent of the ARB appeals come from OALJ as do virtually all new appeals to BRB. All appeals to ECAB originate in the Federal Employees Compensation Division of OWCP. By the time the Boards receive an appeal, the original claim may be several years old. Any delay at the appellate level is likely to be viewed as a hardship by the parties. Based on an upward trend of appeals filed over the last several years (from 58 new appeals filed in 2023, to 66 in 2024, to 94 in 2025) and thus far in FY 2026, ARB projects 80 new appeals in FY 2026, projects meeting the target of 75 closed appeals in FY 2026, projects 89 pending appeals at the end of FY 2026, and an average case processing time of 12 months or less. Based on the trend of appeals filed over the last several years, ARB projects 80 new appeals in FY 2027. ARB expects to close 70 appeals, resulting in 99 pending appeals at the end of FY 2027, with an average case processing time remaining at 12 months or less. DM - 56 ADJUDICATION For FY 2026, based on OALJ's projected determinations, the BRB projects to receive 340 new Black Lung (BL) appeals. Historically, 35 percent of OALJ BL decisions are appealed to the BRB. Based on current funding in FY 2026, the BRB expects its closed BL appeals target to also be 340 and thus projects that its end of FY 2026 pending BL appeals to remain at 361, resulting in its average case processing time remaining at 13 months. The BRB projects new filed LS/LDA appeals to be 115 in FY 2026 because of OALJ's projected LS/LDA production. Based on current funding in FY 2026, the BRB expects its LS/LDA closed appeals target to be 115 and average case processing time to remain at 16 months, and thus it projects to have 207 pending LS/LDA appeals at the end of FY 2026. For FY 2027, based on anticipated funding and OALJ's projected determinations, the BRB will adjudicate its appeals within target timeframes for disposition and projects new BL appeals filed to be 340. Historically, 35 percent of OALJ BL decisions are appealed to the BRB. Based on anticipated funding in FY 2027, the BRB expects to close 340 BL appeals, resulting in end of FY 2027 pending BL appeals remaining at 361 with an average case processing time remaining at 13 months. Based on projected OALJ production and the BRB receiving their anticipated funding in FY 2027, BRB projects new LS/LDA appeals filed to increase to 120 in FY 2027. BRB expects its closed LS/LDA appeals target to increase to 120 in FY 2027 and its average case processing time to remain at 16 months. End of FY 2027 pending LS/LDA appeals are expected to remain at 207. ECAB estimates new appeals filed in FY 2026 to be 1,300. This estimate is based on the number of appeals received for workplace injury claims. ECAB's closed appeals target for FY 2026 is 1,050 appeals with an average case processing time target of 6 months. This estimate is due in part to production lost during the government shutdown, and a total workforce reduction of approximately 25 percent. ECAB projects end of FY 2026 pending appeals to be 525. In FY 2027, ECAB expects 1,300 new appeals to be filed. This is based on an anticipated constant trend of appealed cases received after initial action by OWCP. ECAB's closed appeals target for FY 2027 is 1,050 with an average case processing time target of 6 months. ECAB projects end of FY 2027 pending appeals to be 775.


**Where it sits:** Civilian / Non-Defense › Labor › Departmental Management › Adjudication


*HitchAI is an independent intelligence service, not affiliated with the U.S. government. Civilian line dollars are parsed from agency Congressional Justifications and are approximate.*