The federal agency responsible for coordinating the government’s response to homelessness has been unable to fulfill some of its statutory duties in the aftermath of the Trump administration’s attempted cuts, a Government Accountability Office report found Friday.
The Trump administration sought to downsize the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness last year as part of its broader effort to reduce the federal workforce. But the GAO found that even months after a federal judge ruled those efforts to be unlawful, the council still lacks direction from agency leadership.
“USICH staff said they had not received direction from the Council or the executive director on federal homelessness policies or priorities to guide their work and help perform USICH’s statutory duties and functions, such as updating its national strategic plan to end homelessness,” the GAO report says.
At least eight employees returned from administrative leave in February 2026, but the council has yet to fully resume its work.
Trending
Council officials told the watchdog “they could not confirm” who the chair or vice chair of the council were, they could not respond to certain White House reporting requirements due to “uncertainty regarding USICH’s future status,” and that as of January 2026 officials had not held an official meeting in more than a year.
The uncertainty raises questions about what the council has been able to accomplish since the administration’s effort to dismantle it began last year.
“This report makes two things clear: the Trump Administration has no interest in following the law or solving homelessness,” Sen. Jack Reed (D- Rhode Island) told The Washington Sun in a statement.
“The Trump Administration should empower USICH to carry out its statutory mission to streamline homeless assistance programs and reduce programmatic waste — something the President has continuously claimed to prioritize,” he added.
The White House and USICH did not immediately respond to The Sun’s request for comment.
Reed and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington) had requested that the GAO review the council’s statutory responsibilities and recent changes in staffing.
Murray’s office did not immediately respond to The Sun’s request for comment.
Between 2016 and 2024, the council produced at least three national strategic plans to end homelessness across the country and supported interagency communication between federal agencies, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veteran Affairs.
The council’s responsibilities are set by federal law. They include coordinating the federal response to homelessness, developing a national strategic plan and reporting annually to Congress on progress toward ending homelessness.
The Trump administration has repeatedly proposed eliminating USICH through the federal budget process, while Congress has continued to provide funding for the council’s operations.
However, its funding fell from $4.3 million in fiscal year 2025 to $3 million in 2026, after the Trump administration proposed cutting its funding to $250,000. For fiscal year 2027, the administration is seeking $200,000 to shut down the council, the GAO report notes.
A federal court ruled last year that “reducing USICH 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 administration appealed the ruling. The case is now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which heard arguments in September but has not yet issued a decision.
Author
