The portfolio changed little despite a billion-dollar rent bill
The federal judiciary paid more than $1 billion in rent in fiscal 2025, GAO reported. Administrative space accounted for roughly 40% of rent and totaled 12.2 million usable square feet across 716 of the judiciary’s 772 facilities.
What’s the Scoop With Broach calculated that administrative space appeared in 92.7% of facilities. Its total area was only about 1% lower than in fiscal 2021, indicating limited portfolio contraction over the five-year period.
| Measure | Reported value | Newsroom calculation |
|---|---|---|
| Facilities with administrative space | 716 of 772 | 92.7% |
| Administrative usable square feet | 12.2M | Down about 1% from FY2021 |
| Administrative share of rent | About 39%–40% | Stable across FY2021–25 |
| Administrative-only facilities | 272 | More than one-third of all facilities |
| Commercially owned administrative-only sites | 234 of 272 | 86.0% |
Administrative-only offices create a distinct leasing exposure
GAO found 272 facilities contained only administrative functions. Of those, 234 were commercially owned; the newsroom calculation is 86.0%. Federal public defenders and probation or pretrial-services offices occupied 96% of those commercial sites.
Commercial ownership is not proof of waste. Those functions need locations, security and public access. The accountability problem is that cost and area data cannot show whether employees use the space enough to justify each lease.
Area was measured; occupancy was not
The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts had records for cost and square footage but not actual occupancy, GAO found. Without consistent presence or utilization measures, it could not systematically identify underused space as work patterns changed.
GAO made one recommendation to collect and use occupancy information. The judiciary said it would carefully consider the recommendation; it remained open at publication.
Method and limitations
The newsroom examined GAO’s facility and rent totals and recomputed the 92.7% and 86.0% shares. We did not label the entire 12.2 million square feet underused because the missing occupancy data make that conclusion impossible.
The report covers administrative space, not courtroom and chambers needs. Facility counts do not weight offices by size, rent or mission, and a small leased location counts the same as a large one in the percentage of facilities.