Why It Matters

The federal judiciary does not systematically track how much of its 12.2 million square feet of administrative space it actually uses, leaving officials unable to determine whether they are leasing more space than necessary, according to a new U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. Administrative space accounted for 39% to 40% of the judiciary's annual rent from fiscal year 2021 through fiscal year 2025, even as its overall administrative footprint declined 1% over that period.

In fiscal year 2025, the judiciary's administrative space was spread across 716 of the 772 facilities it occupied nationwide. Without occupancy counts, the judiciary cannot determine how extensively it uses that space. Its own Asset Management Planning process includes a physical assessment of how well court units' space functions and meets space standards, but measuring utilization is not part of that process. Judiciary officials told GAO investigators they have not identified a business need to measure utilization, even though judiciary policies and guidance emphasize maximizing space use and taking a data-based approach to space management.

The Big Picture

The judiciary's lack of utilization data sits inside a much larger, long-running problem. Chronic underutilization of federal buildings is one of the main reasons federal real property management has remained on GAO's High Risk List for more than 20 years, making the finding part of a government-wide challenge rather than an isolated issue involving the judiciary.

Administrative space was the sole type of space in more than a third of judiciary-occupied facilities, specifically 272 of the 772 facilities, in fiscal year 2025. Of those 272 facilities, 234 were commercially owned, and 96% of those commercially owned facilities were occupied by federal public defender organizations and probation offices.

To conduct its review, GAO selected a non-generalizable sample of nine judiciary facilities, interviewed officials about administrative space utilization, and directly observed the use of administrative space at four of those facilities. GAO also surveyed all 13 judiciary circuit executives, who collectively represent all court units nationwide, about their use of occupancy data to measure utilization, and interviewed officials from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC) and the General Services Administration (GSA).

The Bottom Line

GAO directed one recommendation to the director of the AOUSC: establish procedures to collect occupancy data and calculate utilization at regular intervals, develop benchmarks for utilization rates, and incorporate that data into the judiciary's space-use decision-making processes.

The AOUSC said it would "carefully consider" the report's findings and recommendation. As of the report's publication, the recommendation remained open. Until the AOUSC establishes procedures for collecting occupancy data, the judiciary will remain unable to measure the utilization of its administrative space or determine whether it is leasing more space than it needs.

Readers can track the status of GAO's open recommendation and related legislative activity at Legis1.com.

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