WASHINGTON — A 2026 report issued under the 2024 USE IT Act found that only 28% of federal building space was occupied across 22 agencies from January to March, falling far short of the law’s 60% occupancy threshold. No federal agency currently meets that benchmark, according to the findings.

The federal government owns approximately 10,000 underused or vacant buildings nationwide and controls about 300 million square feet of office space through ownership and leases. Congress passed the USE IT Act in 2024 to require agencies to measure space utilization and consolidate or sell buildings with occupancy below 60%. Since 2013, the General Services Administration (GSA) has sold about 900 mostly smaller federal properties valued at $1.4 billion.

Large federal buildings now slated for sale include the FBI’s J. Edgar Hoover Building (2.8 million square feet), the Department of Energy headquarters (2.2 million square feet), the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building (1.2 million square feet), and the GSA Regional Office Building in Washington, which is likely to be redeveloped into apartments.

“We had so many objections from agencies. They didn’t want the data. Because, you know, I think anecdotally, they knew what it would show: The buildings are mostly empty,” said Dan Mathews, a Public Buildings Reform Board (PBRB) member appointed by President Joe Biden, in a podcast interview. The PBRB, created by Congress in 2016 to accelerate sales of underused federal buildings, has flagged insufficient funding as a major barrier to disposal. “The primary challenge GSA and agencies face is the lack of funding necessary to vacate and dispose of these underutilized, high-cost assets.”

Republican Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, who serves on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, criticized the slow pace of implementation. “For too long, things have been allowed to wander along, and there’s been no accountability.” He added, “If it looks like they’re slow-rolling it and refusing to abide by the policy and doing everything they can to resist it, I think there’s troubled waters ahead.”

Talmage Hocker, acting chairman of the Public Buildings Reform Board, warned that deteriorating federal properties are harming local economies. “Local leaders have warned that deteriorating or abandoned federal buildings are dragging down struggling downtowns, eroding property values, and stifling economic recovery.” Hocker also noted, “The maintenance backlog is crippling agencies’ ability to deliver on their missions, endangering the federal workforce.” The Government Accountability Office estimates the backlog of needed repairs exceeds $370 billion, while Congress allocates only 0.38% of a building’s value annually for maintenance—well below the 2% to 4% typical in commercial real estate.