OPM, GSA to Share HQ Space in Federal Real Estate Overhaul; USDA Moving Workers

Workers at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and General Services Administration (GSA) are set to share office space starting in July, as part of a broad push to shrink the federal real estate footprint. 

In July, GSA staffers will move from their current location into OPM’s Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building, while the GSA headquarters is renovated. Once the renovations are complete, both GSA and OPM will move into the refurbished GSA building at 1800 F Street, scheduled for December 2028. OPM’s current headquarters at 1900 E Street will then be sold. 

GSA Administrator Edward Forst says the two agencies are setting an example on maximizing value for taxpayers. 

“For too long, the federal government has paid for space it doesn’t use, buildings it cannot afford to maintain, and in some cases, cannot even occupy. That ends now,” said Administrator Forst. 

GSA says about 40 percent of the current building is uninhabitable. 

“Think about that, the agency that’s responsible for managing the government’s real estate portfolio has not been allowed to properly maintain its own headquarters. That’s the problem, and today we’re solving the problem,” said Administrator Forst.

GSA is going to use available funding to start the design process in the months ahead, while it works with Congress to get additional funds for the renovations.

For employees, the transition could mean tighter working conditions in the near term.

“We will be very tightly packed, I think, for the next couple of years, but it’s going to be great,” said OPM Director Scott Kupor. “The buzz in that building is going to be amazing, like it’s never been, because we are going to be literally kind of busting at the seams.”

Director Kupor also stated that there are no plans to merge the two agencies. 

USDA Shuffling Workers Out of DC

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is expanding plans to relocate workers outside of the Washington, DC region. 

USDA said the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) will move about two-thirds of its DC-area workforce to “mission-critical locations,” including new facilities in Iowa and Georgia.

USDA also announced that it’s moving additional employees in the Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) from Washington, DC, to Kansas City. Other USDA employees who were shifted to Kansas City in 2019 but then moved to other parts of the country, will be relocated back to Kansas City as well.

And USDA said it will start decommissioning the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC), a complex of more than 400 buildings in Maryland. Research programs will be relocated to facilities around the country.  

Democratic lawmakers from Maryland say the move is “unwise” and “illegal.” 

“By moving forward with decommissioning BARC, USDA is violating a number of provisions laid out in the Fiscal Year 2026 Agriculture Appropriations Act, enacted into law on November 12, 2025, including a clear directive to USDA to keep BARC open,” wrote the lawmakers.