President Donald Trump’s administration set Monday, April 14, as the deadline for federal agencies to propose plans to further downsize their workforce and potentially relocate their offices to other, less costly, areas in the U.S.
In February, agencies were put on notice that in addition to slashing the federal workforce, the administration also wants identify federal buildings in the D.C. area that could be sold off.
The Washington Post reports several states are pitching the administration to move agencies there. For instance, the Post reports Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine sent a letter to Trump asking him to move NASA to Cleveland. The Republican governor said the city would be a “much more economical location” than the District.
Ohio isn’t the only state trying to attract federal agencies. Texas and Florida are making pitches, too.
Sens. Rick Scott and Ashley Moody, R-Fla., have introduced a bill that would move NASA from its Southwest D.C. location to Florida’s “Space Coast” in Brevard County.
Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, told Politico that he wants NASA to move to Texas. Both Republican U.S. senators have also introduced a bill to transfer the Space Shuttle Discovery to Houston from the Smithsonian Institution’s facility in Northern Virginia.
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In March, the General Services Administration published a list of 443 federal properties for sale, but that list was removed and replaced with a much smaller list of properties the government was considering selling.
Previous reporting has suggested agency headquarters and offices that could be relocated outside of the D.C. region include the departments of Justice, Housing and Urban Development and Agriculture.
The impact on DC
While D.C. officials have said the sale of federal properties creates an opportunity to redevelop the buildings and bring them all onto the D.C. tax rolls, a bigger threat is the loss of federal employees. The Metropolitan Council of Governments estimates more than 17% of people employed in the D.C. region work for the federal government.
“We’re talking tens of thousands, potentially over 100,000 federal workers, that will be now in the job market,” said John Boyd with the Boyd Company, a relocation services company.
Boyd said the D.C. region will be a lot different in the next few years, if the federal workforce continues to be reshaped.
If certain agencies do relocate to a less expensive part of the U.S., Boyd said he expects many, if not most, civilian federal employees within those agencies will not move with them.
Critics of the “Department of Government Efficiency,” the Trump administration team tasked with slashing federal spending by eliminating jobs and possibly relocating these agencies, say its actions are harmful to the D.C. economy, as the federal government is the city’s largest employer.
But Boyd said he believes the moves present opportunities.
“An optimist would look at this as a catalyst for much-needed, new redevelopment and vacant space into new housing, new, amenity-rich, class-A office space, as well as other types of commercial activity, new hotels,” Boyd said.
But skeptics are not as hopeful.
With thousands more in the job market, thousands more potentially moving away and the largest employer in the area moving significant assets to other areas of the country, some are worried the D.C. area will take a huge hit in the next few years.
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