“Unveiling the Complete List of Federal Office Lease Terminations: Which Departments Are Facing the Axe?”

The Trump administration has been actively working to reduce the federal government’s real estate footprint, and it seems to be making significant progress. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) recently announced that it has terminated leases for over 2.3 million square feet of office space, resulting in an estimated $60 billion in savings. These savings have been achieved through various measures such as fraud detection, contract cancellations and renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancellations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and regulatory rollbacks.

A large portion of the real estate reduction has taken place in Washington, D.C., where more than half of the 2.33 million square feet of terminated leases were located. Notable examples include the Department of Labor’s 845,389-square-foot lease and the Federal Trade Commission’s 259,130-square-foot lease. Atlanta also stands out, primarily due to the Department of Health and Human Services’ 119,812-square-foot footprint, along with smaller but still significant holdings from the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission. Some properties listed in DOGE’s data do not have recorded square footage, but they still have high costs, which could be attributed to specialized usage, shared facilities, or incomplete records.

These lease cancellations align with President Donald Trump’s goal of reducing the size of the federal government. His administration has been actively cutting federal headcount, resulting in widespread layoffs and buyouts. Additionally, remaining employees are now required to return to the office full-time in person. The General Services Administration (GSA), which manages most of the government’s property, has also announced plans to sell off approximately half of its real estate holdings.

According to the Associated Press, the GSA has instructed regional managers to begin terminating leases nationwide, potentially affecting up to 7,500 offices. As of September, the GSA owned or leased more than 363 million square feet of space across 8,397 buildings, but this number is expected to significantly decrease. Some agencies affected by the lease cancellations have relocated to existing federal buildings, while others have closed their offices entirely. A few agencies are still occupying their spaces until their lease terminations take effect, as government contracts often require continued payment until expiration.

With DOGE updating its figures twice weekly, the growing list of canceled leases and their contract values provides valuable insights into the administration’s broader efforts to downsize both government office space and its workforce. While this contraction aims to cut costs and improve efficiency, it also raises questions about the potential ripple effects. In an office market already facing high vacancy rates and declining demand, the long-term implications of these newly vacated or soon-to-be-vacated spaces remain uncertain, leaving landlords, investors, and local economies to navigate the potential fallout.