Overview
- The bill orders the GSA to sell six Washington headquarters buildings: Labor’s Frances Perkins, Energy’s James V. Forrestal, OPM’s Theodore Roosevelt, HUD’s Robert C. Weaver, USDA’s South Building, and HHS’s Hubert H. Humphrey.
- It authorizes up to 20 additional disposals each year, with the GSA administrator determining whether a sale or a ground lease serves the national interest.
- Ernst cites roughly 7,700 vacant federal buildings nationwide and about 2,265 that are largely empty as evidence of widespread underuse.
- OMB estimates $81.346 million in annual costs to operate underutilized buildings, and GSA reports more than $6 billion in deferred maintenance that could top $20 billion within five years.
- The proposal advances the administration’s effort to shrink Washington’s real estate footprint and would need congressional approval, with supporters pointing to June’s mandated sale of the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building as precedent.