Jody Serrano
Editor in chiefEditor in Chief at Xataka On. Before joining Webedia, I was a tech reporter at Gizmodo and The Messenger. While I've covered all sorts of things related to technology, I'm specialized in writing about social media, Internet culture, Twitch, and streamers.
Eager to cut what it deems to be “waste,” the Trump administration appears willing to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Officials have recently turned their sights to the government’s property portfolio, which they claim is full of office space “not core to government operations.”
Surprisingly, the properties identified as nonessential included FBI’s headquarters.
440 federal properties. On Tuesday, the Government Services Administration (GSA) published a list of 440 non-core property assets across the country, from Washington, D.C. and New York to Florida and Alaska. The government is considering selling or closing the properties on the list, which altogether make up nearly 80 million rentable square feet.
“Decades of funding deficiencies have resulted in many of these buildings becoming functionally obsolete and unsuitable for use by our federal workforce,” the GSA said in a statement. “We can no longer hope that funding will emerge to resolve these longstanding issues.”
Selling or closing these properties could save the government up to $430 million per year in operating costs, the agency stated.
The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in Washington, D.C.
The J. Edgar Hoover Building. The GSA’s original list contained emblematic buildings, including the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C., which serves as the FBI’s headquarters. According to CNN, the agency also included the headquarters for the Departments of Labor, Justice, Veterans Affairs, and Housing and Urban Development. Even the GSA’s own headquarters made its way to the chopping block.
However, it appears that someone determined that it probably wasn’t a great idea to sell or close the FBI’s headquarters or those of other federal agencies. A few hours later, the GSA published a revised list with only 320 properties. The revised list didn’t include the FBI’s headquarters or any other building in Washington, D.C.
As of Wednesday, the revised list was also unavailable, and the page it was housed on noted it was “coming soon.”
“We are identifying buildings and facilities that are not core to government operations, or non-core properties for disposal. Selling ensures that taxpayer dollars are no longer spent on vacant or underutilized federal spaces,” the accompanying message read. “Disposing of these assets helps eliminate costly maintenance and allows us to reinvest in high-quality work environments that support agency missions.”
Why did the administration consider selling the FBI’s headquarters? The answer is simple: Elon Musk. Working under the banner of his Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, Musk considers getting rid of what he claims is “underutilized” federal office space a priority.
To maximize efficiency, Musk is purportedly looking to solutions recently implemented by the tech industry in its return-to-the-office push. CNN reports that Musk has been working with the GSA on eliminating federal offices and having agencies share buildings. His goal is said to be connecting agencies that have extra room to those that need office space.
Bottom line. Some current and former government employees have raised concerns about the plan to sell federal property and close buildings. While it may sound simple in theory, one employee, who was not named, told CNN that closing a building costs money. It would require the government to clean out the old building and dispose of its furniture.
The employees are also a factor to consider. If they have to relocate to another place of work, the government may have to buy new furniture to accommodate them.
Images | ajay_suresh | Wikimedia Commons | Wikimedia Commons
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