Critics worry DOGE’s rush to sell excess federal buildings could hurt agency missions, squander revenue opportunities

Stakeholders and critics aired their concerns about the way the Trump administration has sought to sell federal buildings and cancel leases at a Tuesday hearing of the House panel that’s associated with the Department of Government Efficiency.

Experts told the Delivering on Government Efficiency Subcommittee that while property management has been a lingering challenge for the federal government, the speed with which the Elon Musk-backed government cost-cutting initiative previously moved on the issue could escalate risk.   

The General Services Administration, which manages federal property, on March 4 announced more than 440 “non-core” government buildings for potential sale. GSA one day later took down that list, and currently the agency has identified just 16 properties for “accelerated disposition.” 

GSA officials said on the agency’s website that “[d]ue to the overwhelming response that we received after publishing the first list” they "decided to use a more incremental approach focusing on a shorter list of assets that have already been evaluated.”

Ron Kendall — the executive chairman emeritus of the National Federal Development Association, which represents private property owners who lease to government tenants — testified to the panel that there were buildings on GSA’s initial list that shouldn’t be sold, including a new facility in Cambridge, Mass., and the Main Justice Department Building. 

“My concern is that this is not being done judiciously,” he said. “Disposal is not the enemy. It's how it is done, and it must be done carefully with deliberate study.”

David Marroni, the acting director for physical infrastructure at the Government Accountability Office, noted at Tuesday’s hearing that real property management has been on the watchdog agency’s high-risk list since 2003. 

“The federal government has held on to too much space and has been too slow in shedding underused properties,” he said, while acknowledging there’s a “risk of moving too fast.” Marroni said GSA’s decision to take an “incremental approach” toward reducing property was a “positive step.” 

DOGE subcommittee Chairwoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., praised Trump’s goal to halve the amount of property the federal government owns. 

“This administration is taking historic action on reducing the size of the government, and with it a significant reduction in the useless office space that is claimed to be essential for the government to operate,” she said. 

Offloading federal real estate has been a bipartisan priority. In fact, the building that the Tuesday hearing was held in, the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building in Washington, D.C., is slated to be sold under a law signed by former President Joe Biden. 

Robin Carnahan, who was Biden’s GSA administrator, said at the end of her tenure that the government could reduce its portfolio by 30%. 

“This is a longstanding issue that many administrations have worked on, and it certainly isn't something new,” said subcommittee ranking member Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M. 

At the same time, she characterized the Trump administration’s approach to the issue as amounting to a “fire sale” and contended it’s a prong in DOGE’s effort to dismantle swaths of the federal government. 

Kendall also warned that, due to economic conditions, now isn’t a great time to sell property. 

“You don't sell into a down market. It's folly,” he said. “You're going to get the lowest price possible if you can move the assets at all.”