22 U.S.C. § 291 — Lease of buildings, etc., for offices, living quarters, heat, light, and equipment

The Secretary of State may lease or rent buildings and grounds for the Foreign Service to use, for periods of up to ten years, whenever necessary. The Secretary may also provide Foreign Service officers and employees with living quarters, heat, light, and household equipment, at no cost to them, in government-owned or government-rented buildings. This is allowed wherever the Secretary judges it serves the public interest, following existing practice, and only within the limits of whatever Congress has appropriated. This applies even though section 5536 of title 5 might otherwise say something different. Money appropriated under the budget lines "Contingent expenses, foreign missions" and "Contingent expenses, consulates" can be used to pay for this.