The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), the independent federal agency that coordinates the government's response to homelessness, placed 11 of its 13 employees on paid administrative leave for 10 months, a Government Accountability Office report finds. A federal court found the agency's implementation of the executive order behind the move unlawful. Eight employees are back, but still waiting for direction.
What USICH is required to do
USICH was created in 1987 by Title II of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 11311-11320). It consists of the heads of 19 federal agencies or their designees, called the Council, and a staff that has ranged from 10 to 18 full-time employees over the past decade, led by an executive director. The act requires the Council to meet at least four times a year, to elect a chair and vice chair annually, to employ 5 to 10 regional coordinators who provide technical assistance to state and local governments, to report annually to the President and Congress on federal homelessness efforts, and to develop a national strategic plan to end homelessness.
The leave and the court ruling
Executive Order 14238, issued March 14, 2025, directed USICH to eliminate nonstatutory functions and reduce its statutory functions and staff to the minimum required by law. USICH staff told GAO that in April 2025 an individual to whom the executive director had delegated those duties placed 11 of USICH's 13 employees on paid administrative leave; the General Services Administration (GSA) also ended USICH's office lease that month. In June 2025, a coalition of 21 states filed an amended complaint. In November 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, in Rhode Island v. Trump, found USICH's implementation of the order unlawful. The report says the court noted that reducing USICH's personnel to two employees was contrary to law because the reduction "made it impossible for the agency to continue to perform its statutory duties." The court vacated USICH's actions and barred it from repeating them. USICH has appealed; the appeal was pending as of September 2026.
Where it stands
Eight of the 11 employees returned to active status in mid-February 2026; three had already left USICH. As of May 2026, USICH had 10 full-time staff and a part-time executive director. USICH officials told GAO in January 2026 that the Council had not met since December 2024, and as of September 2026 staff had not confirmed a meeting date. Of the Council's 19 member agencies, only GSA had supplied contact information as of May 2026, officials said. Staff told GAO they had received no direction from the Council or the executive director on homelessness policy, including on updating the national strategic plan; the executive director said the Council should weigh in first. A 2026 amendment gives the Council until 12 months after July 11, 2026 to submit a new plan. The President's fiscal year 2027 budget, released in April 2026, proposed closing USICH.
What the report does not do
GAO made no recommendations in this report. It says it did not evaluate USICH's compliance with any law, regulation, or executive order, and takes no position on the pending appeal. GAO's closing note says USICH's efforts to reengage with Council members "could help revive" activities including updating the national strategic plan and providing technical assistance to states, local governments and nonprofit organizations.