Hundreds of leases are being axed as the government downsizes its real estate footprint
The Trump administration is pushing forward with its plan to sell off federal office buildings and end hundreds of federal leases.
Hundreds of government leases have already been axed, and more properties are now being prepped for sale under a plan to shrink the government’s real estate holdings by 50%.
While supporters call it a long-overdue fix for bureaucratic bloat, critics said it’s a rushed effort that risks destabilizing federal operations and gutting the DC property landscape.
“Federal agencies shouldn’t be maintaining empires at taxpayer expense,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, chair of the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, during a field hearing in DC. “The government is pouring billions of dollars into wasteful, empty office buildings.”
According to Greene, nearly 700 federal leases have already been canceled, including one for 1875 Pennsylvania Avenue, previously home to the US Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America. That agency, along with others in the same category, is now being dismantled. The lease cancellations alone are projected to save about $400 million.
The General Services Administration (GSA) is also planning to vacate its own headquarters and co-locate with the Department of the Interior.
While the government is aiming to eliminate waste, experts are warning that the speed of these changes could backfire.
“This has disrupted the long-standing inertia that has slowed previous efforts to reshape the federal government’s real property holdings,” said David Marroni of the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Marroni said there are risks in moving too fast, particularly because many buildings still have active tenants. He emphasized that while change is needed, “speedy reductions” must be weighed against the need for thoughtful planning.
A 2023 GAO survey revealed that 17 federal agencies reported using less than 25% of their office space.
“A fire sale’
Rep. Melanie Stansbury, the subcommittee’s ranking Democrat, criticized the administration’s real estate strategy, saying it lacks proper oversight. She pointed to a previously released list of over 400 federal properties that were identified for sale, including high-profile buildings like the FBI and Department of Justice headquarters.
“That is a fire sale of some of the most valuable real estate properties in Washington, DC,” Stansbury said. The list was later rescinded and replaced with a smaller, revised version of “accelerated disposition” assets posted on the GSA’s website.
Beyond just selling off buildings, the administration is also exploring whether some agencies should be relocated out of DC entirely.
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“These relocations, as we saw during the first Trump administration, would harm the operations of these agencies and waste taxpayer dollars,” said DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. She recently introduced legislation that would ban agency relocations unless Congress signs off.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Greene questioned the $200 million allocated to kickstart the relocation of the FBI headquarters to Greenbelt, Maryland, a move supported by the Biden administration. Trump, however, has publicly stated he wants the FBI to stay in DC, a position also backed by Mayor Muriel Bowser.
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