The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has published a list of over 440 federal real estate properties that it has identified for closure or sale, including the FBI headquarters and the main building of the Department of Justice, considering them "non-essential to government operations," but then removed all buildings in Washington from the list, reports AP, writes UNN.
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A few hours later, the administration published a revised list, which included only 320 properties - none in Washington, D.C. The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), which published the list, did not immediately respond to questions about the change in the list and why so many properties were removed.
The initial list included some of the most well-known buildings in the country, as well as court buildings, offices, and even parking garages, covering nearly all states. In Washington, D.C., it included the J. Edgar Hoover Building, which is the FBI headquarters, the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, the Old Post Office Building, where President Donald Trump once managed a hotel, and the headquarters of the American Red Cross. It also listed the headquarters of numerous agencies, including the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In other parts of the country, the administration targeted the massive Major General Emmett J. Bean Federal Center in Indiana, the Sam Nunn Federal Center in Atlanta, the Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building in San Francisco, and the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York City. Approximately 80% of the 2.4 million federal employees in the country are based outside of Washington.
"We are identifying buildings and facilities that are not essential to government operations, or non-core properties for disposal," GSA stated about the list of 443 real estate properties. The sale of properties "ensures that taxpayer money is no longer spent on federal facilities that are vacant or underutilized," the statement said, adding that it "helps eliminate costly maintenance and allows us to reinvest in a high-quality work environment that supports agency missions."
Such a move, the publication writes, is part of unprecedented efforts by Trump and billionaire Elon Musk to reduce the number of federal employees and cut government spending. They claim that selling the listed buildings could save the federal government hundreds of millions of dollars, as well as radically change how core government agencies funded by Congress operate. The Trump administration is also requiring federal employees to report daily to the office.
Several buildings in the initial list posted by the GSA included those belonging to agencies that Trump has long criticized, including the FBI and the Department of Justice.
The publication also notes that the administration seeks to dispose of federal buildings named after icons in the civil rights field - Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta and Rosa Parks in Detroit, as well as the Montgomery bus station in Alabama, which played a key role in the civil rights movement and now serves as the Freedom Rides Museum.