GAO Warns Data Gaps Impede Federal Office Space Divestment and Cost Savings
A new GAO report reveals that while the USE IT Act is driving federal office consolidations, critical data inconsistencies and reporting gaps risk distorting actual space utilization. Better GSA alignment could unlock tens of millions in annual real estate savings across civil and defense agencies.
Federal efforts to footprint-size physical real estate under the Utilizing Space Efficiently and Improving Technologies (USE IT) Act are yielding preliminary savings, but inconsistent reporting standards risk undermining long-term efficiency goals. According to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) review, 23 Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Act agencies collected and reported facility occupancy data by leveraging badging infrastructure and check-in surveys. While initial implementation costs remained modest at $16 million collectively across 2025, systemic data gaps threaten the reliability of the baseline utilization figures submitted to Congress.
Chronic underutilization of federal real property has persisted on GAO’s High-Risk List for more than two decades, draining crucial operations and maintenance funds. Although multiple agencies report using USE IT Act data to inform footprint consolidation and property disposal—projecting tens of millions of dollars in recurring annual savings—the initial March 2026 data push lacks crucial contextual metrics. Specifically, missing indicators regarding GSA-controlled vacant space and flawed reporting methodologies, such as agencies tracking assigned headcount rather than physical presence, create distorted utilization pictures for lawmakers and agency executive leadership.
For defense and civil agency leadership, accurate utilization telemetry is essential to balancing hybrid work postures with facility sustainment budgets. Misrepresenting office occupancy hinders the ability of senior leadership to prioritize capital investments, restructure leases, or divest redundant assets effectively. As defense and civilian defense-adjacent components seek to optimize operational expenditure, bad data risks locking capital into unneeded real estate rather than redeploying resources into mission-critical modernization and infrastructure resilience programs.
To capture real savings, GSA must standardize data collection directives and work directly with CFO Act agencies to eliminate reporting variances. Commercial real estate partners, defense contractors, and technology vendors providing smart building management solutions stand to gain as agencies seek automated, compliant badging and occupancy tracking technology. Refining these metrics will provide government leaders with the actionable intelligence required to execute long-overdue property divestments. (Source: GAO Reports)
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