CNN
By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn and Rene Marsh, CNN
(CNN) — The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it is considering selling off hundreds of “non-core” federal properties, according to the General Services Administration.
“GSA’s decisive action to dispose of non-core assets leverages the private sector, drives improvements for our agency customers, and best serves local communities,” the agency said in a news release, claiming that it could potentially save “more than $430 million in annual operating costs.”
A list of 440 “non-core” properties initially posted to the GSA website included the headquarters of the FBI; the departments of Justice, Veterans Affairs, Labor, and Housing and Urban Development; Federal Trade Commission, GSA’s own headquarters, and the Old Post Office – where the Trump Organization had a 60-year lease until it sold it to the Waldorf Astoria hotel in 2022. Several of the buildings listed include staff from multiple agencies, such as the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center, the biggest federal government building in the Southeast.
Later Tuesday, however, the list was scaled back to 320 properties, with all DC-based properties removed.
CNN has reached out to the GSA for comment on the removal of the properties from the list.
GSA said in the release that most of the buildings flagged consist primarily of office space and that selling them will “ensure taxpayers no longer pay for empty and underutilized federal office space.”
The release said the agency has identified certain “core” assets “that are needed for critical government operations,” including courthouses and facilities key to national defense and law enforcement, which “will be retained for long-term needs.” However, multiple courthouses, including the US Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles, are on the list.
Though many of the properties initially listed are in the Washington, DC, metro area, the list includes buildings across the country, from Alaska to Florida.
The move comes as the Trump administration has ordered federal workers to return to their offices, marking an end to Covid-era rules allowing more flexibility. GSA on Tuesday did not specify where federal workers will go if their buildings are disposed of.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has been working with GSA on a plan to shed federal offices and collocate agencies, according to a source with knowledge of the plans. The goal is to have federal agencies share office space by connecting those that need workspace with those that have extra room.
A recently launched program called “space match” will allow agency heads throughout the government to fill out a Google form detailing how much space they need for their operations. The program is intended to offset the loss of workspace, but the source cautioned that closing these buildings could be expensive.
“The cost to close buildings and relocate is pretty high — you have to clean out the old building and all of its furniture, etc., which for a 500,000 (square foot) building is not cheap,” the source said. GSA will then have to find a place for displaced employees to go, which could mean purchasing new information technology infrastructure or possibly furniture.
The potential closure of the buildings echoes promises made during President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, where he vowed to move tens of thousands of federal jobs out of Washington, DC, and into “places filled with patriots who love America.”
And Trump pushed to relocate federal agencies in Washington during his first term, when the headquarters of the Bureau of Land Management was moved from the capital to Grand Junction, Colorado.
As part of a plan to conduct mass layoffs across the federal government, the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management have asked federal agencies for an outline of “a positive vision for more productive, efficient agency operations going forward.”
OMB and OPM have asked for agencies to submit proposals for office relocations away from the DC metro area and plans to reduce costs and improve efficiency through technology. Those are due no later than April 14 and should be implemented by September 30, CNN previously reported.
This headline and story have been updated with additional reporting.
The-CNN-Wire
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