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Since 2011, Congress has been taking money out of a construction fund managed by the federal government’s real estate arm, the General Services Administration, and using it to cover other parts of the federal government, GSA Administrator Edward Forst said May 13. Now nearly half of the agency’s 1,600 properties are in fair or poor condition, he said.
“GSA Repairs Backlog Increases 408%” Forst told the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Among other things, more than 1,300 buildings in the agency’s portfolio need new elevators, HVAC systems, fire suppression upgrades and electrical repairs, he said.
congress created GSA’s federal construction fund in the 1970s. The agency was authorized to collect rents and keep the proceeds from the sale of properties and use the money to maintain and improve the properties in its portfolio. But Congress has “hijacked” the fund, as Forst put it, diverting $15.6 billion over the past 15 years, $22 billion in inflation-adjusted terms. That has led to a backlog that some estimate is as high as $50 billion, he said.
In his Budget request for the year 2027released in early April, GSA is asking Congress to give it access to 100% of the funds it collects in rent and sales revenue. To press the point, Forst sent a letter on May 22 to House and Senate leaders signed by 22 federal department heads, including Secretary of State Marcio Rubio, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Forst addressed two other ways Congress impedes GSA’s maintenance of federal property:
Insufficient endowments. Congress has given GSA only half of the roughly $1.2 billion in budget authority the agency requests each year. “This funding failure accelerates the deterioration of our infrastructure,” Forst said.
Expenditure limit per project. Congress requires the agency to get congressional approval when it needs to spend more than $3.96 million on a project, and approval usually takes more than a year. “No private sector real estate portfolio manager could or would operate successfully under these constraints,” said Forst, who previously held positions at Cushman & Wakefield, Bankers Trust and Goldman Sachs.
The agency is asking Congress to allow it to work without approval for projects up to $75 million in cost, which would allow it to begin work immediately on several projects in the backlog. “This would allow GSA to fix roofs before they fail, replace elevators before they trap people, and upgrade fire and life safety systems before lives are at risk,” he said. “Market conditions have pushed basic maintenance costs well above current thresholds,” Forst said, “trapping us in bureaucratic delays while buildings deteriorate.”
More than 125 of the agency’s properties are 100 years old or older, he said.
“Many are architectural treasures that bear witness to history and embody American democracy and craftsmanship.” And the GSA doesn’t have the funds to maintain them. Delaying maintenance increases its cost, Forst noted.
Alexander Hamilton’s U.S. Customs House in New York City, for example, completed in 1907, needed $73.7 million in repairs 10 years ago, but the money just wasn’t there. Repairs are now $152.3 million, “an impressive increase of $78.6 million just for delay,” he said.
