Trump administration scraps over 120 properties from federal sale list

WASHINGTON: The inventory of federal properties proposed for sale by the Trump administration experienced a rapid decline from 443 to 320 within mere hours on Tuesday, as the General Services Administration (GSA) removed several iconic structures—including key agency headquarters—from its website.

The list was purged of facilities housing the Departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Justice, Labor, and Veterans Affairs. Notably, the headquarters for the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Office of Personnel Management were also taken off the roster.

Additionally, a cluster of buildings in Northern Virginia, which do not officially appear on the federal property registers but have long been linked to the Central Intelligence Agency, was also withdrawn.

A representative from the GSA did not provide immediate clarification regarding the reasons for the removal of over a quarter of the buildings from consideration for sale, as reported by Bloomberg.

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The majority of the properties excised from the inventory of ‘non-core’ real estate assets were situated in the Washington, D.C. area, which is currently grappling with high office vacancy rates.

This push to divest federal real estate aligns with President Donald Trump’s broader initiative to significantly reduce the federal workforce and, consequently, the demand for office space. However, this plan has faced considerable opposition from Democrats, who contend that the sale of federal buildings could adversely impact small businesses and veterans, as well as Social Security recipients and others reliant on in-person services from federal agencies.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts remarked that Trump and his billionaire advisor, Elon Musk, are endeavouring to ‘dismantle our government’ piece by piece, selling it off for parts.

Among the 120 properties removed from the list was a facility in Suitland, Maryland, which oversees weather satellites for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration—a specialized institution that the administration had expressed an intention to retain, given its crucial role in operations.

In Silver Spring, Maryland, the Trump administration has also ceased listing the expansive 3.1 million-square-foot campus of the Food and Drug Administration, which encompasses ten office buildings and four laboratories.