GSA Rehires Hundreds of Federal Employees Laid Off by DOGE
The General Services Administration (GSA) is reversing course and rehiring hundreds of federal employees who were laid off as part of Elon Musk’s cost-cutting measures, addressing the agency's understaffing and operational challenges.
GsaFederal EmployeesRehiringDogeCostcuttingReal EstateSep 24, 2025
“Ultimately, the outcome was the agency was left broken and understaffed,” said Chad Becker, a former GSA real estate official. “They didn’t have the people they needed to carry out basic functions.” Becker, who represents owners with government leases at Arco Real Estate Solutions, said GSA has been in a “triage mode” for months. He said the sudden reversal of the downsizing reflects how Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency had gone too far, too fast.
Rehiring of purged federal employees
GSA was established in the 1940s to centralize the acquisition and management of thousands of federal workplaces. Its return to work request mirrors rehiring efforts at several agencies targeted by DOGE. Last month, the IRS said it would allow some employees who took a resignation offer to remain on the job. The Labor Department has also brought back some employees who took buyouts, while the National Park Service earlier reinstated a number of purged employees. Critical to the work of such agencies is the GSA, which manages many of the buildings. Starting in March, thousands of GSA employees left the agency as part of programs that encouraged them to resign or take early retirement. Hundreds of others — those subject to the recall notice — were dismissed as part of an aggressive push to reduce the size of the federal workforce. Though those employees did not show up for work, some continue to get paid.
GSA representatives didn’t respond to detailed questions about the return-to-work notice, which the agency issued Friday. They also declined to discuss the agency’s headcount, staffing decisions, or the potential cost overruns generated by reversing its plans to terminate leases. “GSA’s leadership team has reviewed workforce actions and is making adjustments in the best interest of the customer agencies we serve and the American taxpayers,” an agency spokesman said in an email.
Democrats have assailed the Trump administration’s indiscriminate approach to slashing costs and jobs. Rep. Greg Stanton of Arizona, the top Democrat on the subcommittee overseeing the GSA, told AP there is no evidence that reductions at the agency “delivered any savings.” “It’s created costly confusion while undermining the very services taxpayers depend on,” he said. DOGE identified the agency, which had about 12,000 employees at the start of the Trump administration, as a chief target of its campaign to reduce fraud, waste, and abuse in the federal government. A small cohort of Musk’s trusted aides embedded in GSA’s headquarters, sometimes sleeping on cots on the agency’s sixth floor, and pursued plans to abruptly cancel nearly half of the 7,500 leases in the federal portfolio. DOGE also wanted GSA to sell hundreds of federally owned buildings with the goal of generating billions in savings.
GSA started by sending more than 800 lease cancellation notices to landlords, in many cases without informing the government tenants. The agency also published a list of hundreds of government buildings that were targeted for sale. DOGE’s massive job cuts produced little savings Pushback to GSA’s dumping of its portfolio was swift, and both initiatives have been dialed back. More than 480 leases slated for termination by DOGE have since been spared. Those leases were for offices scattered around the country that are occupied by such agencies as the IRS, Social Security Administration, and Food and Drug Administration. DOGE’s “Wall of Receipts,” which once boasted that the lease cancellations alone would save nearly $460 million, has since reduced that estimate to $140 million by the end of July, according to Becker, the former GSA real estate official.
Meanwhile, GSA embarked on massive job cuts. The administration slashed GSA’s headquarters staff by 79%, its portfolio managers by 65%, and facilities managers by 35%, according to a federal official briefed on the situation. The official, who was not authorized to speak to the media, provided the statistics on condition of anonymity. As a result of the internal turmoil, 131 leases expired without the government actually vacating the properties, the official said. The situation has exposed the agencies to steep fees because property owners have not been able to rent out those spaces to other tenants. The public may soon get a clearer picture of what transpired at the agency. The Government Accountability Office, an independent congressional watchdog, is examining the GSA’s management of its workforce, lease terminations, and planned building disposals and expects to issue findings in the coming months, said David Marroni, a senior GAO official.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why were federal employees laid off by the GSA?
Federal employees were laid off as part of Elon Musk’s cost-cutting measures under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to reduce the size of the federal workforce and save costs.
What is the GSA and what does it do?
The General Services Administration (GSA) was established in the 1940s to centralize the acquisition and management of thousands of federal workplaces, including buildings and leases.
How many federal employees are being rehired by the GSA?
Hundreds of federal employees who were laid off are being asked to return to work, with the expectation that they will report for duty on Oct. 6.
What is the impact of the rehiring on taxpayers?
The rehiring may involve additional costs to taxpayers, as some employees continued to get paid during their absence and the GSA incurred high costs to maintain properties whose leases were not terminated.
What is the current status of the GSA's lease cancellation plans?
More than 480 leases slated for termination by DOGE have been spared, and the estimated savings from lease cancellations have been reduced from $460 million to $140 million.
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