Trump Undoes Decades-Old Guidelines For Locating Federal Offices In Downtowns

In its latest attempt to overhaul the federal government’s real estate portfolio, the Trump administration is reversing longstanding policies that outline where federal office buildings should be located. 

In an executive order signed Tuesday, President Donald Trump reversed orders signed by the Carter and Clinton administrations that gave guidance on prioritizing central business districts and historic areas and properties for federal facilities.

Trump's order, “Restoring Common Sense To Federal Office Management,” argues that the guidelines have not been in the best interest of agency cost or effectiveness. 

President Jimmy Carter’s 1978 order said that when locating federal facilities in urban areas, CBDs should be prioritized. President Bill Clinton’s 1996 order said that within those central business areas, historic properties and districts should be prioritized.

“Much like President Carter’s order, President Clinton’s order failed to adequately prioritize efficient and effective Government service,” Trump's executive order says. “Revoking these orders will restore common sense to Federal office space management by freeing agencies to select cost-effective facilities and focus on successfully carrying out their missions for American taxpayers.”

Cushman & Wakefield Executive Vice Chair Darian LeBlanc said that on its face, Trump's executive order represents a “relatively minor” policy shift. He said the Carter and Clinton orders had been intended to help struggling downtowns across the country that were losing out to the suburban office parks that were popular in those decades. 

“But I don't think that's what Trump's EO is about,” LeBlanc said.  “In my opinion, the Trump administration intends to take large federal agencies/offices out of the National Capital Region and other large cities and place them in red states. They are preemptively removing provisions that could provide the basis for legal challenges to this agenda.”

Another government office leasing broker, who was granted anonymity due to their work with the government, said the previous executive orders didn't have much impact in practice.

“Agencies have always still been able to locate where they want to locate,” the broker said. 

Trump has a history of attempting to decentralize federal agencies out of the D.C. metro area. During his first term, he moved two Department of Agriculture research agencies to Kansas City, Missouri, and late in his tenure sought to move the Bureau of Land Management to Colorado — a move the Biden administration reversed.

The Trump administration has made a series of moves since taking office in January to radically change the federal government’s footprint nationwide. 

Federal agencies had until Monday to tell the administration if they had plans to relocate offices away from the D.C. area as part of their cost-cutting efforts.

The General Services Administration announced last month it would be disposing of 443 “noncore” assets, including some of the largest federal headquarters in D.C. It swiftly backtracked on that move and is now reposting the disposition list piecemeal. 

On the leasing side, Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency says it has canceled over 600 federal leases across the country, totaling 7.6M SF.