The order revokes one from the Clinton administration that encouraged agencies to locate their facilities in historic properties and districts, especially when located in central business areas. Image: Basra Bashir/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffPresident Trump has issued an executive order opening the way for more relocations of federal offices by revoking policies that an accompanying document says “unnecessarily restricted” such moves by prioritizing locations in central city areas.
The order comes as agencies are increasingly indicating that office consolidations and moves—including relocations away from the national capital area and other city areas—are part of their plans for downsizing and reorganizing pending approval at OMB and OPM.
Like those plans, the new order and accompanying document say such moves will have the advantage of putting federal employees closer to the people they serve and savings in real estate costs.
The first Trump administration also had worked to move federal offices based on the same arguments, although little was done beyond the relocation of most of the Bureau of Land Management’s headquarters and two small Agriculture Department research agencies. In each case, the large majority of employees retired or left for other jobs rather than relocate—which the then-OMB director in an unguarded moment said the administration considered a positive.
The new order revokes one from the Carter administration that required agencies prioritize central business districts when siting federal facilities in urban areas. “Intended to improve these districts, President Carter’s order has instead prevented agencies from relocating to lower-cost facilities,” it says.
It also revokes one from the Clinton administration that encouraged agencies to locate their facilities in historic properties and districts, especially when located in central business areas. “Much like President Carter’s order, President Clinton’s order failed to adequately prioritize efficient and effective Government service,” it says.
The order tells GSA to revise its policies under those orders and tells agencies to follow the new GSA rules once they are in place.
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