Real Estate, AI, and Efficiency: GSA Nominee Talks Priorities at Confirmation Hearing
President Trump’s nominee to be administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA), Edward Forst, faced Senators at his confirmation hearing, telling them that GSA stands at the “tip of the spear” of the Trump Administration’s government efficiency agenda.
Forst, a former CEO of commercial real estate giant Cushman Wakefield and former investment banker at Goldman Sachs, told senators on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee he has four key priorities if confirmed:
Right-sizing the federal real estate portfolio;
Unifying the federal acquisition system;
Helping more small businesses do business with the federal government;
And leading the way for a technology transformation across agencies.
On the topic of real estate, Forst noted that “GSA must examine underused and outdated properties, renegotiate leases where possible, and consolidate space to reflect how federal agencies actually work today.”
GSA owns and leases over 363 million square feet of space in more than 8,300 buildings and the Trump Administration has already tried to cut that portfolio in half. GSA also has about $24 billion in deferred maintenance projects. Forst said about $6 billion of that deferred maintenance backlog is “urgently needed.”
Acquisition System Reforms
On the topic of procurement, Forst called for centralizing and streamlining the process noting that the “federal government’s acquisition system must operate as a unified enterprise, not as a patchwork of disconnected transactions.” That includes simplifying regulations and eliminating unnecessary barriers.
“I am confident the Federal Acquisition Service team is prepared to fully embrace this once in a generation opportunity that will help agencies improve their mission delivery,” said Forst. “When procurement works intelligently, every hardworking taxpayer wins.”
AI and Technology
Forst called technology modernization a “necessity” for the federal government and said that GSA will continue playing an important role in implementing the Trump Administration’s AI Action Plan.
Forst was pressed on one such AI contract with xAI and its Grok platform, which is owned by Elon Musk.
Several nonprofit groups urged the administration to put a hold on implementation saying the company produced racist and inflammatory responses to its users and isn’t fit for government decision-making.
Forst was asked by Committee Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-MI) to take a look.
“I think my commitment to you is I will meet with the team, and I’ll understand the process used in selecting them, and I’ll make sure that we have all the facts, and if there was incompleteness to the process, that will rectify that,” said Forst in response.
If confirmed, Forst would take over for acting GSA Administrator Michael Rigas.
