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As the “Department of Government Efficiency” continues slashing federal jobs, a memo issued Wednesday from the Trump administration directs agencies to voice proposed relocations of offices out of the D.C. region to cheaper areas.
The directive sent Wednesday outlines a phased mandate and tells department heads and agency leaders to work with DOGE team leads in identifying office leases that can be canceled and positions that can be cut.
The deadline for phase one is in two weeks. Agency leaders are required to submit near-term personnel evaluations and elimination suggestions to the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget by March 13, according to the memo.
These items include a list of agency subcomponents or offices that provide direct services to citizens and all agency components and employees performing functions not mandated by statute. It also asks leaders to answer whether the agency or any of its subcomponents should be eliminated or consolidated.
Phase two requires agencies to submit a plan by April 14 that would include an organizational chart reflective of what the agency would look like after the cuts, any efficiencies that could be gained through technology, and an analysis of where an agency could move — out of the D.C. metro area — that would be cheaper to operate.
The memo calls on leaders to send a list of all buildings used by the agency by next Wednesday and an inventory in the next month of all leases that can be terminated.
The federal government makes up about 15% of the federal workforce is in the D.C. area, according to USA Jobs. Any effort to abandon government properties here would likely have a devastating effect on the commercial real estate market.
In a statement to WTOP, the District’s city administrator’s office said: “We are currently reviewing all executive actions, orders, and federal agency memos to better understand potential impacts.”
WTOP’s Will Vitka contributed to this report.
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