U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness: Staff Placed on Administrative Leave Have Returned and Await Direction

The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, created in 1987 and legally required to maintain regional coordinators, report annually to Congress, and develop a national homelessness strategy, placed 11 of its 13 employees on paid administrative leave in April 2025 under an executive order aimed at shrinking federal agencies. The same month, GSA terminated the agency's office lease and recovered its equipment.

A federal district court ruled in November 2025 that USICH's implementation of the order was unlawful, finding the staff cuts made it impossible for the agency to perform its statutory duties, and barred further such action. USICH has appealed.

Eight of the eleven sidelined employees returned to active status in mid-February 2026; three had already left. As of May 2026, the agency had ten full-time staff and a part-time executive director, but staff told GAO they've received no direction from the Council or the executive director on homelessness policy or priorities, with the executive director saying guidance needs to come first. Separately, the President's most recent budget proposes terminating USICH entirely in fiscal year 2027.

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