Two major federal agencies are moving to share the same facility in the opening phase of a historic effort to dispose of millions of square feet of unneeded government office space and consolidate multiple agencies into fewer, less-costly buildings in the nation’s capital.

The two agencies include the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). As the government’s “housekeeper,” GSA manages all non-military buildings and related facilities nationwide, including office equipment, furniture, and supplies, as well as building maintenance and repairs, telecommunications systems, and other infrastructure needs. The agency currently employs more than 10,000 civil servants in its headquarters building on F Street NW in Washington, D.C. This structure was the first federal building that was built using limestone on the exterior. Originally designed for the Department of the Interior headquarters, the building was converted to GSA offices in 1949.

As the federal government’s human resources central office, OPM’s employees oversee hiring-and-firing procedures for the government’s 2.1 million career civil service workers and manage the massive health and retirement programs for present employees and pensioners. OPM’s central office building is located on E Street NW, separated from GSA by a small park area. The OPM building was completed in 1962 and renamed in 1992 in honor of former President Theodore Roosevelt, who had previously served as chairman of the old Civil Service Commission.

There are about 10,000 GSA workers in the F Street building and 2,600 in the OPM facility in the E Street structure. Under the plan announced earlier this week, GSA employees will work from the OPM building beginning this summer and throughout the renovation, which is to be finished in 2028. After the renovation is complete, both agencies will then operate from the refurbished GSA facility. After the consolidation is completed, the old OPM building will be sold.

The GSA building, which has more than 800,000 square feet, was built in the early 1900s, and agency officials claim about 40% of the facility is unusable. The seven-story OPM building is 500,000 square feet and much newer but is not suitable for occupation in the long-term consolidation of the two agencies.

Asked by The Washington Stand if there have been similar agency consolidations in the past, a GSA spokesperson said “a full headquarters-level consolidation of two independent agencies into a single facility at this scale and done to address the government’s low occupancy rates, is unprecedented. The GSA team has built a roadmap for federal agencies to operate under one roof and deliver what the American people expect — results that respect their tax dollars.”

There was discussion during President Donald Trump’s first term in the White House of combining GSA and OPM into one centralized agency, but nothing concrete followed. When Trump returned to the White House in 2025, however, he quickly launched multiple initiatives for reducing the number of federal workers and downsizing the government’s property inventory. One of those initiatives was an executive order requiring all federal workers to return to their offices on a full-time basis. During the previous administration of Joe Biden, most workers worked from home rather than their offices even after the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020 had ended.

But the federal government owns or leases so much office space — an estimated 360 million square feet in more than 8,000 structures — that even after the Trump executive order, none of the agency facilities reported an occupancy figure above 60%, according to GSA. That 60% threshold was required under legislation signed into law by Biden as one of his final acts before leaving the Oval Office. As a result, GSA Administrator Edward C. Forst has a leading role in Trump’s downsizing campaign.

“GSA and OPM are taking unprecedented action by coming together to fortify America’s real estate portfolio and tackle the delinquent maintenance and vacancies that have plagued it for decades,” Forst confirmed in the statement announcing the consolidation. “We built a roadmap for federal agencies to operate under one roof and deliver what the American people expect, results that respect their tax dollars.” 

In the same statement, OPM Director Scott Kupor said, “This move reflects our commitment to being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars, while ensuring OPM employees have modern, efficient space to support their mission. By consolidating under-utilized office space and partnering with GSA on long-term facility improvements, we are reducing unnecessary costs and focusing resources where they matter most, delivering results for the American people.”

Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate DOGE Caucus and a long-time advocate of reducing the federal government’s massive inventory of unused office space, joined the two agency heads in announcing the consolidation plan. “For years, I’ve been working to literally downsize government by selling off Washington’s unneeded, unused, and deteriorating real estate, and today we are taking action,” Ernst explained. “By consolidating two agencies under one roof, GSA and OPM are putting more office space to work. As the Trump administration puts taxpayers first, I’ll continue to make sure every square foot and tax dollar are being used wisely.”

In 2023, Ernst made public a list showing that on average, less than 7% of the employees working in the 22 largest federal agencies were doing so in their offices. The Iowa Republican’s efforts resulted in GSA announcing a plan in November of that year under which 23 large federal properties would be disposed of, with cost savings estimated at more than $1 billion.

The consolidation efforts accelerated under Trump, assisted by legislation introduced by Ernst. Her FOR SALE Act would sell six pieces of prime federal property in Washington, D.C., generating an estimated $400 million in proceeds and saving $2.9 billion in planned renovations. Ernst also introduced the DISPOSAL Act that reduces bureaucratic obstacles to the disposition of unneeded federal properties.

There are multiple plans presently being implemented to dispose of major structures in Washington, D.C., and consolidate agencies in more efficient structures, including the departments of Agriculture, Education, Energy, and Housing and Urban Development. In March, Ernst and Forst jointly announced that GSA’s regional office building in the capital was sold, generating more than $700 million in proceeds for the federal treasury.