AP Exclusive: DOGE may close hundreds of federal offices this summer

Federal agencies will begin to vacate hundreds of offices across the country this summer under a frenetic and error-riddled push by Elon Musk’s budget-cutting advisers to terminate leases that they say waste money. The documents from inside the General Services Administration, the U.S. government’s real estate manager, list dozens of federal office and building leases expected to end by June 30, with hundreds more slated over the coming months. We can’t leave,’” said Chad Becker, a former GSA real estate official who now represents building owners with government leases at Arco Real Estate Solutions. But a spokesperson for the Railroad Retirement Board expressed concern over the upcoming lease cancellations of its offices in Joliet, Illinois, and eight other states, saying it was working to “maintain a public-facing office presence for the local railroad community.” Government Accountability Office official David Marroni told a congressional hearing last week that the push to unload unnecessary federal real estate was “long overdue,” saying agencies have for too long held on to unnecessary space. But he warned the downsizing must be deliberate and carefully planned to “generate substantial savings and mitigate the risk of mistakes and unexpected mission impacts.” That process had already started before Musk’s team arrived, with the federal government’s real estate portfolio steadily declining over the last decade.