General Services Administration
The General Services Administration is the independent federal agency that manages and supports the operation of federal government buildings, contracting, and technology systems. It serves as the federal government's primary landlord and procurement arm, overseeing billions of dollars in federal real estate and contracts. In 2025-26 the GSA became a focal point of controversies over federal office space decisions and real estate dealings involving parties connected to the administration.
Also known as GSA
2026 Events (1)
Federal agencies refused records to the DOGE data-access oversight investigation; GSA blocked inspection of converted offices and a Starlink install
The Washington Post reported on May 18, 2026 that multiple federal agencies are refusing to produce records for an active oversight investigation into how the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) obtained access to sensitive federal data and systems. At the General Services Administration, senior officials blocked investigators from examining at least six offices DOGE had converted into bedrooms and from inspecting Starlink satellite equipment installed at the agency. The pattern of refusal sits on top of a January 2026 dismantling of the executive branch's principal internal oversight infrastructure — the dismissal of 18 inspectors general and the heads of the Office of Special Counsel and Office of Government Ethics — which removed many of the watchdogs that would otherwise have compelled compliance.
2025 Events (3)
GSA and FBI scrapped Congress's mandated Greenbelt, Maryland headquarters site, redirecting $1.1 billion to the Reagan Building
On July 1, 2025, the General Services Administration and FBI Director Kash Patel announced the FBI would abandon its planned move to Greenbelt, Maryland — a site GSA had selected in 2022-23 under a congressionally appropriated $1.1 billion project — and relocate instead into the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. Maryland and Prince George's County sued in November 2025, and a federal judge ruled in August 2026 that the switch violated federal law and blocked it.
GSA directed all federal agencies to cancel ~$100M in Harvard operating contracts, escalating political retaliation campaign
On May 27, 2025, the General Services Administration sent a letter to all federal agencies directing them to identify and cancel remaining contracts with Harvard University — approximately 30 contracts worth an estimated $100 million — and to seek alternative vendors for future services. The directive escalated the administration's retaliatory campaign against Harvard, which had publicly refused White House demands to alter its hiring, admissions, and governance practices. The contract-cancellation mechanism targeted operating agreements distinct from the $2.6 billion in research grants already frozen or cancelled since April 2025.
GSA eliminated 18F, firing all ~90 employees of the federal technology unit, under DOGE direction
On February 28, 2025, the General Services Administration eliminated 18F, its internal technology consulting unit, firing all approximately 90 employees at the direction of DOGE. GSA Deputy Administrator Thomas Shedd announced the closure in an internal email; 18F's website was taken offline the same day. 18F was a congressionally-funded team of engineers and designers that helped federal agencies modernize digital services and largely paid for itself through interagency billing.