Mountain State Times

U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, along with other congressional members, has addressed the Trump administration in a letter concerning new reforms related to public buildings and federal office space. These reforms were included in the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024 (WRDA) and are intended to optimize the federal real estate portfolio, ultimately saving taxpayer money.

The letter was sent to Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Stephen Ehikian, Acting Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA), and Michael Peters, Commissioner of the Public Building Service. It highlights "Public Buildings Reforms" found in Title III of Division B of WRDA 2024. This section grants the administration new powers to enhance management efficiency within federal real estate holdings and mandates agencies to increase employee presence at offices or risk losing their allocated space.

“To maximize the effectiveness of these provisions, it is critical that implementation begins as soon as possible to meet deadlines and take full advantage of the authorities provided to the administration in this legislation,” stated lawmakers in their correspondence.

They further noted that “Even if 100 percent of the Federal employees returned to the office, the taxpayer would still be paying for excess space. For example, one agency that was the subject of GAO’s 2023 review reported that, even if all their employees came into the office on the same day, only 67 percent of their headquarters building would be utilized.”

Senator Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Representatives Sam Graves (R-Mo.), and Scott Perry (R-Pa.) joined Chairman Capito in sending this letter. The move follows a Government Accountability Office (GAO) review conducted in 2023 which assessed utilization across 24 agency headquarters buildings. Findings indicated an average utilization rate below 25 percent for most agencies.

In response to these findings, committee leaders have been advocating for increased use of federal office spaces while also seeking ways to divest unused or underused properties through WRDA2024's public building reforms.