The Trump administration rehires hundreds of fired employees after cost-cutting
Hundreds of federal employees who were laid off during Elon Musk’s cost-cutting measures are now being requested to come back to work. The General Services Administration has informed employees responsible for managing government workspaces that they have until the end of the week to either accept or decline reinstatement, as stated in an internal memo. Those who accept must report for duty on Oct. 6 after what amounts to a seven-month paid vacation, during which time the GSA, in some cases, incurred significant costs that were ultimately passed on to taxpayers to maintain dozens of properties whose leases it had planned for termination or allowed to expire.
Ultimately, the outcome was that the agency was left broken and understaffed, according to Chad Becker. They lacked the personnel required to perform essential tasks. Becker, representing owners with government leases at Arco Real Estate Solutions, stated, “GSA has been in a triage mode for months.” He stated that the abrupt change in the downsizing illustrates how Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency had overreached, moving too quickly. The GSA was founded in the 1940s with the purpose of centralizing the acquisition and management of numerous federal workplaces. The request for a return to work reflects the rehiring initiatives at several agencies that have been targeted by DOGE. Last month, the IRS announced that it would permit certain employees who accepted a resignation offer to continue their employment. The Labor Department has also reinstated certain employees who accepted buyouts, while the National Park Service previously brought back several purged employees.
Essential to the operations of these agencies is the GSA, which oversees numerous buildings. Beginning in March, thousands of GSA employees departed from the agency as part of initiatives that promoted their resignation or early retirement. Hundreds of others who were subject to the recall notice were dismissed as part of an aggressive effort to reduce the size of the federal workforce. Despite the absence of those employees from work, they are set to receive their pay through the end of this month. Representatives from the GSA did not provide answers to specific inquiries regarding the return-to-work notice that was issued on Friday. The agency representatives also refrained from commenting on the headcount, staffing decisions, or the possible cost overruns resulting from the reversal of their plans to terminate leases. The leadership team at GSA has evaluated workforce actions and is implementing changes to better serve the customer agencies and the American taxpayers, according to an agency spokesman in an email. Democrats have criticized the Trump administration’s reckless strategy of cutting costs and jobs without discretion. Greg Stanton informed that there is no evidence indicating that the agency’s reductions resulted in any savings. “It’s created costly confusion while undermining the very services taxpayers depend on,” he said.
DOGE pinpointed the agency, which employed approximately 12,000 individuals at the onset of the Trump administration, as a primary focus of its initiative to curtail fraud, waste, and abuse within the federal government. A select group of Musk’s trusted aides stationed at GSA’s headquarters, occasionally resting on cots on the agency’s sixth floor, actively worked on strategies to swiftly terminate nearly half of the 7,500 leases within the federal portfolio. DOGE also sought for GSA to divest hundreds of federally owned buildings, aiming to generate billions in savings. The GSA initiated the process by dispatching over 800 lease cancellation notices to landlords, often without prior notification to the government tenants involved. The agency has released a comprehensive list detailing hundreds of government buildings earmarked for sale. There was immediate pushback against GSA’s decision to offload its portfolio, leading to a retraction of both initiatives. More than 480 leases that were set for termination by DOGE have now been saved. The leases pertained to offices located throughout the nation, housing agencies including the IRS, Social Security Administration, and Food and Drug Administration.
DOGE’s Wall of Receipts, which previously claimed that the lease cancellations would yield savings of nearly USD 460 million, has now revised that figure to $140 million by the end of July, as stated by Becker, the former GSA real estate official. Meanwhile, GSA initiated significant job reductions. A federal official briefed on the situation reported that the administration reduced GSA’s headquarters staff by 79%, cut its portfolio managers by 65%, and decreased facilities managers by 35%. An official, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to lack of authorization to address the media, shared the statistics. The official stated that due to the internal turmoil, 131 leases expired without the government vacating the properties. The situation has revealed that the agencies are facing significant fees as property owners struggle to lease those spaces to alternative tenants.
The public may soon gain a more transparent understanding of the events that unfolded at the agency. The Government Accountability Office, an independent congressional watchdog, is scrutinizing the GSA’s oversight of its workforce, lease terminations, and planned building disposals. Findings are expected to be released in the coming months, according to David Marroni.
