President Donald Trump has signed orders overhauling where and how the federal government spends taxpayer money, encouraging agencies to move out of downtown districts and requiring agencies to buy more off-the-shelf products.
Trump’s latest actions, part of a flurry of new orders coming out of the Oval Office Tuesday, put the General Services Administration at the center of an effort to change how the government does business.
The orders align with a broader Trump administrative effort to cut federal costs led by billionaire Elon Musk. That push has resulted in the cancellation of contracts across the government and the downsizing of federal workforces, though many of the cuts are being challenged in court.
One executive order repealed previous orders by Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton that prioritized downtown and historic districts when locating federal facilities. Those orders prevented agencies from moving to lower-cost areas and “failed to adequately prioritize efficient and effective government service,” Trump said in his order.
The Trump administration has sought to cancel federal leases and — at one point — explored offering for sale hundreds of federal facilities that included cabinet headquarters. The GSA pulled back that proposal, but is exploring ways to reduce more than $17 billion in deferred maintenance costs in older buildings.
